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Is the Fallacy of Composition a Fallacy of Ambiguity or a Fallacy of Insufficiency?I have been experiencing difficulty understanding the classification of the fallacy of composition as a fallacy of ambiguity. To explain, I have read that there exist loose categories for informal fallacies: e.g. Fallacies of Irrelevance or Relevance, Fallacies of Insufficiency or sufficiency, and Fallacies of Ambiguity or Clarity.
The source of my confusion is why the fallacy of composition is classified as a fallacy of ambiguity or clarity. It does not seem to be reliant on a semantic misunderstanding but an incorrect belief that merely because a certain property of a part of a whole exist the whole must therefore have the property of its parts. This would seem to be a matter of sufficiency not ambiguity. Since it is not sufficient to believe or say that merely because property of part of a whole exists that the whole must therefore have that property. Forgive me if my explain is confusing. I simply wish to know if I'm misunderstanding the fallacy or if my source miscategorized the fallacy. Thank you in advance. |
| asked on Thursday, Jan 23, 2020 06:02:10 PM by Ryan | |
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Claims are constantly being made, many of which are confusing, ambiguous, too general to be of value, exaggerated, unfalsifiable, and suggest a dichotomy when no such dichotomy exists. Good critical thinking requires a thorough understanding of the claim before attempting to determine its veracity. Good communication requires the ability to make clear, precise, explicit claims, or “strong” claims. The rules of reason in this book provide the framework for obtaining this understanding and ability.
This book / online course is about the the eleven rules of reason for making and evaluating claims. Each covered in detail in the book.
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It appears you’re linking the fallacy of composition (part to whole) with the fallacy of division (whole to part) when they are typically categorized as separate fallacies.
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| answered on Thursday, Jan 23, 2020 06:18:45 PM by mchasewalker |
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