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Fallacies of Ambiguity involve some confusion over meaning. Interpreted in
one way the argument has a false major premiss, while interpreted in the other way the
argument has a false minor premiss. (If we try to interpret both premisses so that they
are true, then the "argument" fails to be formally valid.) Here is an obvious
example: All beetles have six
legs.
John Lennon is a Beatle.
Hence, John Lennon has six legs.
Since the location of the fallacy is a matter of interpretation, we cannot classify the
argument either as a major-premiss fallacy or as a minor-premiss fallacy. Hence such
fallacies get their own group.
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