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Fallacy Library Post Hoc
Informal fallacy

Post Hoc

Assumes that because one thing happened after another, the first thing must have caused the second.

Definition

Assumes that because one thing happened after another, the first thing must have caused the second.

Example
The mayor took office in January and crime dropped in March, so the mayor alone caused the drop.
Extended explanation

How to think about it:

Assumes that because one thing happened after another, the first thing must have caused the second. In practice, the key question is whether the conclusion is supported by evidence and logic, or whether it depends on this reasoning shortcut instead.

Aliases

Other names you may see

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc
Related entries

Related by logic, rhetoric, or real-world co-occurrence

These suggestions are ranked using a hybrid score that combines curated links, shared families, wording similarity, and any saved-analysis pairings the app has observed.