Editing Fallacies of definition (section)

== Circularity ==
[[File:Circular definition of inflammable liquid.png|thumb|Circular definition of inflammable liquid<ref name="H&D">Hughes, Richard E. and Duhamel, Pierre Albert (1966/1967). ''Principles of rhetoric''/''Rhetoric principles and usage'', p.77/141. 2nd edition. Prentice-Hall. "Using in the definition itself the word to be defined or a close synonym of it."</ref>{{clarify|reason= Does not explain anything|date=January 2025}}]]

If one concept is defined by another, and the other is defined by the first, this is known as a [[circular definition]], akin to [[begging the question|circular reasoning]]: neither offers enlightenment about what one wanted to know.<ref name="the-logical-fallacies">{{Cite web |website= Stephen's Guide to the Logical Fallacies |title= Circular Definition | url= http://onegoodmove.org/fallacy/circle.htm}} Accessed September 2, 2014.</ref> "It is a fallacy because by using a synonym in the ''definiens'' the reader is told nothing significantly new."<ref name="H&D"/>

A straightforward example would be to define ''Jew'' as "a person believing in Judaism", and ''Judaism'' as "the religion of the Jewish people", which would make ''Judaism'' "the religion of the people believing in Judaism".{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}