There is a DEEP fallacy here, discussed in the work of Thomas Kuhn, Ludwig Wittgenstein and the work of philosopher Larry Wright on formal and informal reasoning, and in the work of Friedrich Hayek on explanation in economics.
Think about how formalization gave Carnap a massively false view of science and knowledge. Think how formalization made math economists believe that socialism was possible, and the an equilibrium construct was an "economy" or somehow provided an explanation (there are many more examples of how formalism made philosophers of... (read more)
Greg, I don't think we are given enough information here to call this a fallacy.
However, I probably side with your overall skepticism about how formalism is used and abused.
The foundations of mathematical modeling are simple to state.
A good model is: a) a formal translation of informal language, of b) truth functional elements, that c) preserves validity of the home language inference.
Unfortunately, many thinkers leave out c) all together, are ignorant of b)'s limitations, and do not think about a).
Some conscious effort along the lines of a-c would improve our modeling in general.
If anyone wants to see a concrete but tinker toy example of a-c, consult any introductory text on formal logic and the rational reconstruction of material implication as a translation of the English "if, then." All the elements are shown clearly.
1Johnicholas
Would you recommend trying to formalize an argument, as a way of making it more precise, specific, and clear? Contrariwise, would you recommend avoiding formalization?
There is a DEEP fallacy here, discussed in the work of Thomas Kuhn, Ludwig Wittgenstein and the work of philosopher Larry Wright on formal and informal reasoning, and in the work of Friedrich Hayek on explanation in economics.
Think about how formalization gave Carnap a massively false view of science and knowledge. Think how formalization made math economists believe that socialism was possible, and the an equilibrium construct was an "economy" or somehow provided an explanation (there are many more examples of how formalism made philosophers of... (read more)