Judge Danforth's Fallacy Of 'Causation In The Crucible'

n The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the court and its judges use the fallacy of the undistributed middle to attain the conclusions they desire. In order to arrest people, Judge Danforth creates conditions where citizens who oppose the court fall under suspicion, and threatens those who might oppose him with, “No uncorrupted man may fear this court”(98). Because the court assumes that all people who fear the court are witches, instead of all witches also happen to fear the court, many people innocently oppose the court’s ways and suffer. Miller uses the fallacy of the undistributed middle to show the dangers of assuming. Those who wish to avoid false conclusions should know the difference between causation and