Welcome to #FallacyFridays! Whether you see this on a Friday or any other day of the week, it is a good day to have a better perspective on logic. And we can do this by looking at which kinds of flawed arguments we should avoid making. Today’s fallacy is called the fallacy of accident. Make sure to read all the way to the end so you can take the quiz that tests your understanding of the fallacy.

But before we get into it, I want you to know about a tool that may help you understand this and other fallacies. I know that some people learn better by writing or typing. If that is you, download this FREE digital copy of “#FallacyFridays: The Workbook.” It was designed to follow alongside #FallacyFridays lessons in order for you to better understand logical fallacies.

“Accident” isn’t what you think it means.

I first came across this fallacy last year when I was reading “Sophistical Refutations” by Aristotle. And I won’t lie. I was a bit confused. I had never seen the word “accident” used this way before. Here’s an excerpt to see what I mean:

“Fallacies, then, that depend on Accident occur whenever any attribute is claimed to belong in like manner to a thing and to its accident. For since the same thing has many accidents there is no necessity that all the same attributes should belong to all of a thing’s predicates and to their subject as well.”

from “On Sophistical Refutations” by Aristotle

You confused? I don’t blame you. 😂Further reading into the text (and a bit of Googling to confirm my understanding) made it clear that “accident” in this text was a completely new concept to me. It did not refer to a tragic event that could have been a avoided. It also did not refer to an embarrassed kid that didn’t make it to the bathroom in time.

In Aristotelian philosophy, an accident is a characteristic of something that isn’t part of its core identity.

For example, pain is a characteristic of being physically abused. Pain is also a characteristic of getting your blood drawn at the doctor’s office. But pain in this context is different from pain due to physical abuse. Getting your blood drawn, at its core, serves to get a read of your nutrient health. Pain is an inevitable side-effect depending on how your nerves are wired around the injection site. Meanwhile, pain (among other things) is the core of physical abuse.

The word "accident" means something completely different in philosophy. (Hint: it has nothing to do with tragic or otherwise avoidable events.) Click To Tweet

What is the Fallacy of Accident?

Now that we see “accident” in this light, the excerpt I shared earlier from Aristotle’s work should make a bit more sense.

The fallacy of accident (also known as a dicto simpliciter ad dictum secundum quid in Latin and “destroying the exception”) occurs when you see that a characteristic belongs to two or more objects/scenarios but then you draw an unsound conclusion that those characteristics occur in the same way.

For example, I could say that causing pain in others is morally wrong. Then, I could say that physically abusing and getting your blood drawn both cause pain. And then I could conclude that this means that both physical abuse and getting your blood drawn are morally wrong.

This would be the fallacy of accident. Getting your blood drawn at the doctor’s office to check your nutrition levels is an obvious exception to the “causing pain in others is morally wrong” rule.

The fallacy of accident is fallacious because you're drawing an incorrect conclusion about something that is clearly an exception to the rule. Click To Tweet

Quiz Time!

Now that you’ve learned what the fallacy of accident is, here’s a quiz to test your understanding. Which one of the following answer choices contains the fallacy of accident?

A. “Trina, Tyra, and Tanaya are all women. They all can sing. I think it’s safe to conclude that they’d make a great girl band.”

B. Saving animals’ lives as much as possible is a part of veganism. People that abstain from using animals and animal products in their lifestyle save animals that otherwise would have died for their food, clothing, etc. People that work with animal rescue organizations literally work to save animals lives. So clearly, both types of people are vegans.

C. I like chocolate cake, hot chocolate, and milk chocolate. But I hate chocolate milk and chocolate ice cream.

D. Since each of the bricks in this wall are small, that means the wall itself is small.

Coming Soon

Which one of the following answer choices contains the fallacy of accident?

A. “Trina, Tyra, and Tanaya are all women. They all can sing. I think it’s safe to conclude that they’d make a great girl band.”

B. Saving animals' lives as much as possible is a part of veganism. People that abstain from using animals and animal products in their lifestyle save animals that otherwise would have died for their food, clothing, etc. People that work with animal

C. I like chocolate cake, hot chocolate, and milk chocolate. But I hate chocolate milk and chocolate ice cream.

D. Since each of the bricks in this wall are small, that means the wall itself is small.

Results Vote

Which one of the following answer choices contains the fallacy of accident?

A. “Trina, Tyra, and Tanaya are all women. They all can sing. I think it’s safe to conclude that they’d make a great girl band.” 1 ( 3.7 % )

B. Saving animals' lives as much as possible is a part of veganism. People that abstain from using animals and animal products in their lifestyle save animals that otherwise would have died for their food, clothing, etc. People that work with animal 19 ( 70.37 % )

C. I like chocolate cake, hot chocolate, and milk chocolate. But I hate chocolate milk and chocolate ice cream. 1 ( 3.7 % )

D. Since each of the bricks in this wall are small, that means the wall itself is small. 6 ( 22.22 % )

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