Epitome of five forms of Irrelevant Conclusion:
(1) Appealing to the audience.
(2) Defaming the character of the opponent.
(3) Inability to prove the contradictory.
(4) Gaining the point by force.
(5) Citing authority.
Non Sequitur (False Consequent).
This is the fallacy of deriving a conclusion which does not follow from the premises. The fallacy obtains whenever material appears in the conclusion, which has no bearing on the case under discussion. “Irrelevant conclusion” pertains to the establishment of the premises while “non sequitur” is concerned with the conclusion only. We know that a logical thinker constructs the conclusion from material already presented by the premises; “Non sequitur” uses material in the conclusion which is found in neither premise.
“Non sequitur” differs from the fallacy of four terms in that the latter uses the fourth term in the premises while the former introduces the fourth term in the conclusion, and in a form so well obscured that it sometimes escapes notice. Illustration:
All men are thinking animals,