Divine fallacy

The divine fallacy is an informal fallacy that involves arguing for a conclusion on the grounds that it is unimaginable for it not to be true.

The name "divine fallacy" is due to its frequent use to argue that something must have a supernatural origin.[1] It is also known as an argument from incredulity, personal incredulity, or appeal to common sense. Arguments from incredulity can take the form:

  1. I cannot imagine how P could be true; therefore P must be false.
  2. I cannot imagine how P could be false; therefore P must be true.

Arguments from incredulity can sometimes arise from inappropriate emotional involvement, the conflation of fantasy and reality, a lack of understanding, or an instinctive 'gut' reaction, especially where time is scarce.

See also

References
  1. Sen, Madhucchanda (2011). An Introduction to Critical Thinking. Pearson Education India. Retrieved 2016-11-26.


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