The strategic, conscious use of known logical fallacies because they are effective in achieving a desired real-world outcome (persuasion, mobilization, simplification) within a specific audience or context, even while acknowledging they are formally invalid. It treats fallacies as tools in a rhetorical toolkit, to be used when the goal is influence, not truth-preserving debate. It's rhetoric over logic, impact over integrity.
Pragmatism of Fallacies Example: A political campaign using the Bandwagon Fallacy ("Everyone is voting for Candidate A, join the winning team!") is employing the Pragmatism of Fallacies. They know it's not a logical argument about the candidate's merits, but they also know it works on human psychology to drive turnout and create momentum, so they use it as a calculated tool.
by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 3, 2026
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