{{Short description|Logical fallacy}}{{disputed|Questionable cause = false cause?|date=September 2011}} The '''questionable cause'''—also known as '''causal fallacy''', '''false cause''', or '''''non causa pro causa''''' ("non-cause for cause" in Latin)—is a category of informal fallacies in which the cause or causes is/are incorrectly identified. In other words, it is a fallacy of reaching a conclusion that one thing caused another, simply because they are regularly associated.
Questionable cause can be logically reduced to: "A is regularly associated with B; therefore, A causes B."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/Questionable-Cause | title=Questionable Cause }}</ref>
For example: "Every time I score an A on the test its a sunny day. Therefore the sunny day causes me to score well on the test." Here is the example the two events may coincide or correlate, but have no causal connection.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bennett|first=Bo|url=https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/148/Questionable_Cause|title=Questionable Cause|website=logicallyfallacious.com|access-date=2016-11-23}}</ref>
Fallacies of questionable cause include: * Circular cause and consequence{{citation needed|date=October 2014}} * Correlation implies causation (''cum hoc, ergo propter hoc'') ** Third-cause fallacy ** Wrong direction * Fallacy of the single cause * ''Post hoc ergo propter hoc'' * Observational interpretation fallacy * Regression fallacy * Texas sharpshooter fallacy * Jumping to conclusions * Association fallacy * Magical thinking
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * ''[http://www.fallacyfiles.org/noncause.html Non causa pro causa]'' in the ''Fallacy Files'' by Gary N. Curtis
{{Fallacies}}
Category:Causal fallacies Category:Informal fallacies
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