On the flip side of the fallacy of division (see November 4 posting) is the fallacy of composition. It arises when reasoning that something true about a part of a subject must be true of the whole. Examples:
New Yorkers are aggressive people. I should know: I’ve met two aggressive New Yorkers.
The project manager is brilliant, so I’m sure that the entire project team is up to the task.
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A participant in one of my workshops, D. Hom, asked a question about hyphenating expressions such as “end of year.” Determining what to h...
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Chances are that for any viewpoint we take or for any choice we make, the spirit philosopher is not far away, saying, “Been there, don... -
READER QUESTION Could you settle an office dispute over whether the word “trainings” is legitimate? We might use it in a sentence...