Equivocation

:For other meanings of equivocation, see Equivocation (disambiguation).

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The fallacy of equivocation is committed when someone uses the same word in different meanings in an argument, implying that the word means the same each time round.

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For example:

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:A feather is light.

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:What is light cannot be dark.

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:So a feather cannot be dark.

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The above argument commits this fallacy: The word light is used in the sense of having little weight the first time, but of having a bright colour the second time. Since the middle term in this syllogism is actually two different terms, equivocation is actually a kind of the fallacy of four terms.

Related Topics:
Syllogism - Fallacy of four terms

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The fallacy of equivocation is often used with words that have a strong emotional content and many meanings. These meanings often coincide within proper context, but the fallacious arguer does a semantic shift, slowly changing the context as they go in such a way to achieve equivocation by equating distinct meanings of the word.

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In English language, the commonest equivocation is with the word "man", which can mean both "representant of species Homo Sapiens" and "male representant of species Homo sapiens". A well-known equivocation is

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:Do women need to worry about man-eating sharks?

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where "man-eating" is taken as "devouring only male human beings". Another equivocation is the Spurious Greek word android for a "man-form (male) robot", whilst anthropoid (human-form robot) would be the correct term; Greek word andros refers to "male", while anthropos refers to "human being", regardless of gender. A "woman-form" (female) robot would be gynoid.

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To avoid this equivocation, science fiction writers commonly refer representants of Homo sapiens as "humans" instead of "men".

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A separate case of equivocation is metaphor:

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: Male of species Equus asinis is called jackass

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: Ass is the representant of species Equus asinis

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: All asses have long ears

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: Peter is a total jackass

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: Ergo, Peter has long ears

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Here the equivocation is the metaphorical use of jackass to imply a stupid or obnoxious person instead of a male Equus asinis.

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Equivocation is closely linked with the fallacy of amphiboly, where amphiboly relies on a syntactic shift.

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