pre/trans fallacy

Corey deVos

In any recognized developmental sequence, the confusion of a pre-X stage and a trans-X stage simply because both are non-X. This fallacy has two major forms: the reduction of trans-X to pre-X and the elevation of pre-X to trans-X. For example, the confusion of pre-rational and trans-rational, pre-personal and trans-personal, or pre-conventional and post-conventional.