Meaning of category mistake | Babel Free

Definitions

A semantic or ontological error by which a property (or category) is ascribed to a thing that could not possibly have that property.

Equivalents

Examples

“It is one big mistake and a mistake of a special kind. It is, namely, a category-mistake. It represents the facts of mental life as if they belonged to one logical type or category (or range of types or categories), when they actually belong to another. The dogma is therefore a philosopher's myth.”

CEFR level