All the world is logical today, so another meta-post. I wonder if anyone has any examples of amphiboly. Here's a famous example: <\/p>\n
\n"This morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas, how he got there I'll never know. . . " <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
But maybe I should give a definition. Here, by way of historical edification, is Ockham's<\/a>: <\/p>\n
\nCirca quam primo sciendum est quod sicut fallacia aequivocationis accidit ex hoc quod alia dictio potest diversimode accipi, ita fallacia amphiboliae<\/strong> accidit ex hoc quod aliqua oratio potest diversimode accipi, absque hoc quod alia dictio primo diversimode accipiatur; ita quod sicut dictio est multiplex, ita tota oratio est multiplex. (Summa Logicae<\/em> III-4, cap. 5, 2-7, p. 764\/5)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
He says more (but I can't find an electronic version other than the one above). We all know that equivocation regards single words, Ockham tells us that amphiboly regards ambiguous phrases. I must confess that with all of my fallacy searching in recent years, I can't remember having spotted one in the wild. It would be great if some of you could come up with real or real-life examples of this. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
All the world is logical today, so another meta-post. I wonder if anyone has any examples of amphiboly. Here's a famous example: "This morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas, how he got there I'll never know. . . " But maybe I should give a definition. Here, by way of historical edification, is … Continue reading Amphiboly<\/span>