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Amphiboly

Drawing a conclusion from a sentence whose grammar allows more than one meaning.

Published 04 August 2026Updated 04 August 2026

Amphiboly is a fallacy of structural ambiguity: a sentence can be parsed in different ways, and an argument exploits the reading that favors its conclusion. Rewriting the sentence explicitly usually reveals which interpretation the evidence supports.

Sources

Fallacies (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy / 2024 / Website

Canonical philosophical treatment of fallacy types.