|
|
Distributive Fallacy - Division |
| Description: | ||
|
||
| The argument moves from a claim about the collective sense of a class (i.e. the class taken as a whole) to a claim about the distributive sense of a class (i.e. each of the parts taken separately). | ||
|
|
||
| Examples: | ||
| "Century plants are nearly extinct, so I'm not expecting my century plant to live much longer." | ||
| "The American education system is failing our children. You're a teacher, so you must not be doing your job." | ||
| "The set of mice is larger than the set of elephants. Hence mice are larger than elephants." | ||
|
|
||
| Classification: A Fallacy of Ambiguity (a fallacy of soundness in which we cannot tell whether the fallacy occurs in the major premiss or the minor premiss). | ||
|
||
| Source: Aristotle, Sophistical Refutations 4 (166a: 30 - 35). | ||
Go to: WELCOME EXPLANATION of PRINCIPLES TABLE of FALLACIES EXERCISES INDEX