Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada
Symbole du gouvernement du Canada

Liens institutionnels

 

Avis important

L'outil Writing Tips a été archivé et ne sera plus mis à jour jusqu'à son retrait définitif.

Pour obtenir notre contenu le plus à jour, veuillez consulter Writing Tips Plus, un outil combinant le contenu des outils Writing Tips et The Canadian Style. N'oubliez pas de modifier vos favoris!

Rechercher dans Canada.ca
Pour commencer votre recherche, cliquez sur la première lettre du mot voulu dans l'alphabet ci-dessous.

false cause

This very common error in logic involves an assumption about cause. In this fallacy, when two events occur one after the other, the writer assumes, without enough evidence, that the first event caused the second.

A lot of superstitions are based on this kind of reasoning:

  • “My friend gave me a crystal charm, and both times I wore it, I won at cards. But the time I forgot it at home, I lost. I have to remember to wear that crystal if I want to win.”

But this type of reasoning is not found only in superstitions:

  • Two employees attended the weekend conference. They were both sick afterwards. The food served at the conference must have been bad.

In this example, although the employees’ illness may have been caused by food poisoning at the conference, there is not enough evidence to draw a conclusion. The fact that the sickness occurred after the conference does not prove that something at the conference was the cause.

This fallacy is sometimes called a post hoc fallacy, from the Latin phrase post hoc, ergo propter hoc (after this, therefore because of this).