The use of logical formalism—fallacy names, validity tests, deductive structures—to defend unreasonable positions or attack reasonable ones. Logical Sophism weaponizes logic: "that's a straw man" becomes a way to avoid engagement; "that's ad hominem" protects the powerful from critique; "that's not valid" dismisses arguments that don't fit narrow logical forms. The logical sophist knows the terminology of logic but uses it to obscure, not illuminate. They are logic's worst enemy: those who speak its language to betray its purpose.
"He called everything a logical fallacy—straw man, ad hominem, false equivalence—without ever engaging the actual argument. Logical Sophism: using logic's vocabulary to avoid logic's work. The terms became weapons, not tools. Debate died, replaced by fallacy bingo."
by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal March 7, 2026
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