General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDU Logicians, Need Help Naming a Fallacy
This came up the other day. I know well enough that it is a fallacy, put I'm having difficulty nailing down the exact name of the fallacy.
Here goes:
George likes cats.
Cats are animals.
Therefore, George must like all animals.
It seems like generalization, but examples I've been looking at don't quite match up.
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,710 posts)ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)If reversed, then it is true. The way it is written here is not true. So the question is, what makes it untrue this way?
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Premise A is a B
Premise A is also a C
Conclusion Therefore, all Bs are Cs
Aristus
(66,310 posts)You used a linear, logical progression to come to the conclusion, but the conclusion is fallacious.
leftieNanner
(15,080 posts)George likes all animals
Cats are animals
Therefore, George likes cats.
triron
(21,994 posts)unblock
(52,183 posts)ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)Hydrogen is not wet
Oxygen is not wet
Therefore H2O must not be wet
Fallacy of composition is one that seems similar. Now you see my quandary? I never studied logical fallacies in a formal setting, and they all seem so appealing to me!
unblock
(52,183 posts)That's the fallacy of composition.
Oxygen is a gas at room temperature,
Oxygen is a member of the set of elements in h2o,
Therefore h2o is a gas at room temperature.
George likes cats
Cats are members of the set of all animals
George like all animals
Same structure.
yonder
(9,663 posts)Fallacy of composition:
If one person in a group stands to get a better view, then all people who stand would get a better view. False
Xipe Totec
(43,889 posts)https://almossawi.com/bookofbadarguments.html
But yours, specifically, is generalization from the particulars.
ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)I teach my composition students a few each semester, but we never go very deep. I wonder if they would like an illustrated book with pigs and rabbits committing heinous logical fallacies. I wish we offered a critical thinking class.
Xipe Totec
(43,889 posts)ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)I have a 15 year old niece who might find it useful (once I'm finished with it )
Fortinbras Armstrong
(4,473 posts)George likes some animals.
Exotica
(1,461 posts)first two clauses, to a universal statement in the third.
Shrek
(3,976 posts)ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)2. No cats are dogs
3. Therefore, no cats are mammals
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illicit_major
janx
(24,128 posts)of an illogical
syllogism. Illogical
because the logic and categories are backwards.
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)God is love
Love is blind
Ergo Stevie Wonder is god.
ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)Not starting it here and now, though.
Wounded Bear
(58,634 posts)but a mammal ain't always a camel.
ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)Sometimes a camel is a cigarette!