Sophism (Noun)
Meaning
A deliberately invalid argument displaying ingenuity in reasoning in the hope of deceiving someone.
Classification
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents.
Examples
- The politician's justification for the war was a masterpiece of sophism, using clever wordplay to obscure the fact that he had changed his stance multiple times.
- His argument that taxes are actually beneficial for the economy because they allow the government to invest in infrastructure was dismissed as sophism by many experts.
- The philosopher's detractors accused him of sophism for claiming that his vague and circular definitions of justice and morality were somehow profound insights.
- The marketing team's use of misleading statistics to promote the new product was a clear example of sophism, and many customers felt deceived by their tactics.
- The debate team's use of rhetorical tricks and fallacious reasoning was a hallmark of sophism, and they were ultimately disqualified for violating the rules of fair argumentation.