Paralogism

A paralogism (from the Latin paralogismus, itself derived from the Greek παραλογισμός, composed of παρα- (para-), "contra", and λογισμός (logismós), & #34;reflection, reasoning"), is an argument or reasoning invalid, which arises without a will to deceive. It has the form of a syllogism or more frequently of an enthymeme.

Unlike the other kind of fallacy, which is sophistry (a false or erroneous argument, but apparently correct), paralogism does not depend on a malicious confusion in terms, but on an error in reasoning.

In Kant

For the Prussian philosopher Immanuel Kant, human beings arrive at paralogisms due to their own human nature. These paralogisms he calls "transcendental paralogisms." The main one of these, as he exposes in the Critique of Pure Reason , is the confusion that occurs when interpreting that the existence of the soul derives from the existence of "I think".

For Kant, unlike fallacies or other sophisms, paralogisms are not due to human will, but to reason itself. In this way, the paralogisms of pure reason are something from which we will never be completely free.