epälooginen

Epälooginen is a Finnish adjective meaning not logical or lacking logical coherence. It is formed with the negation prefix epä- attached to looginen (logical). In everyday language it describes reasoning, arguments, or conclusions that do not follow from premises in a coherent or valid way. A typical use is epälooginen väite (an illogical claim) or epälooginen päättely (illogical reasoning). The adverbial form is epäloogisesti.

In discourse, epälooginen can refer to formal errors in argumentation as well as to more informal inconsistencies or nonsensical statements. It is common in education, debate, journalism, and philosophy when evaluating the quality of reasoning. The term signals a failure to meet basic standards of rational argument, but it is not always a precise technical label for a specific logical fallacy. A statement may be illogical without committing a named fallacy.

Etymology and related terms: epä- is the native Finnish negation prefix, combined with looginen, which comes from looginen and ultimately traces to the broader concept of logic (logiikka). Related words include epäjohdonmukainen (inconsistent), looginen (logical), and logiikka (logic). In Finnish usage, epälooginen highlights the absence of logical coherence rather than a formal syllogistic error.