A false premise is an incorrect

proposition In logic and linguistics, a proposition is the meaning of a declarative sentence. In philosophy, " meaning" is understood to be a non-linguistic entity which is shared by all sentences with the same meaning. Equivalently, a proposition is the no ...

that forms the basis of an argument or syllogism. Since the

premise A premise or premiss is a true or false statement that helps form the body of an argument, which logically leads to a true or false conclusion. A premise makes a declarative statement about its subject matter which enables a reader to either agre ...

(proposition, or assumption) is not correct, the conclusion drawn may be in error. However, the

logical validity In logic, specifically in deductive reasoning, an argument is valid if and only if it takes a form that makes it impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion nevertheless to be false. It is not required for a valid argument to have ...

of an argument is a function of its internal consistency, not the truth value of its premises. For example, consider this syllogism, which involves a false premise: :* If the streets are wet, it has rained recently. (premise) :* The streets are wet. (premise) :* Therefore it has rained recently. (conclusion) This argument is logically valid, but quite demonstrably wrong, because its first premise is false - one could hose down the streets, the local river could have flooded etc. A simple

logical analysis Logic translation is the process of representing a text in the formal language of a logical system. If the original text is formulated in ordinary language then the term "natural language formalization" is often used. An example is the translati ...

will not reveal the error in this argument, since that analysis must accept the truth of the argument's premises. For this reason, an argument based on false premises can be much more difficult to refute, or even discuss, than one featuring a normal logical error, as the truth of its premises must be established to the satisfaction of all parties. Another feature of an argument based on false premises that can bedevil critics, is that its conclusion can in fact be true. Consider the above example again. It may well be that it has recently rained and that the streets are wet. This does nothing to prove the first premise, but can make its claims more difficult to refute. This underlies the basic epistemological problem of establishing

causal relationships Causality (also referred to as causation, or cause and effect) is influence by which one event, process, state, or object (''a'' ''cause'') contributes to the production of another event, process, state, or object (an ''effect'') where the ca ...

See also