Non Sequitur Fallacy
Also known as: Non Sequitur, It Does Not Follow, Irrelevant Conclusion
Formulated by Aristotle (-350)
Definition
A logical fallacy in which a conclusion is asserted that does not logically follow from the premises offered for it, even when those premises may themselves be true. Unlike fallacies built on a specific flawed maneuver (attacking the person, misrepresenting the opponent, chasing a diversion), the non sequitur is the broader failure underneath many of them: a break in the chain of inference itself, so that the stated reasons simply fail to establish the stated point. The Latin name, literally 'it does not follow', became the standard term for this gap through the medieval logic tradition, but the underlying analysis traces to Aristotle's Prior Analytics, where he first formalized what makes an inference valid and, by extension, what it looks like when one is not. Non sequiturs are common in political rhetoric and everyday argument, where an emotionally resonant or plausible-sounding conclusion is dropped in after premises that never actually support it.