Sunday, August 24, 2014

non secundum necessitatem naturae; Ergo non est necessarium secundum se.

The fallacy of inferring from the fact that F is accidental (or not necessary) to a thing’s nature, that therefore F is accidental (or not necessary) to the thing.
Example 1:
Being female is accidental with respect to being human; therefore Jane is not necessarily female. 
Example 2:
Being born to Carol and Richard is not an essential feature of my human nature; therefore I could have had different parents.
Example 3:
Being composed of leather is not essential to being a couch; therefore this leather couch could have been composed of cloth.
Comment: Though I agree that each of these examples commits the non secundum necessitatem naturae; Ergo non est necessarium secundum se fallacy, I still affirm the conclusions of examples 1 and 2.  

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