Question

...
VanDisease

What is the difference between hasty generalization and sweeping generalization?

asked on Monday, Jan 26, 2015 03:31:06 AM by VanDisease

Top Categories Suggested by Community

Comments

Want to get notified of all questions as they are asked? Update your mail preferences and turn on "Instant Notification."

Grow Intellectually by Taking Dr. Bo's Online Courses

Dr. Bo is creating online courses in the area of critical thinking, reason, science, psychology, philosophy, and well-being. These courses are self-paced and presented in small, easy-to-digest nuggets of information. Use the code FALLACYFRIENDS to get 25% off any or all of Dr. Bo's courses.

View All Dr. Bo's Courses

Answers

...
Bo Bennett, PhD
2
They are essentially the inverse of each other. A sweeping generalization is applying a general rule to a specific instance (without proper evidence), and a hasty generalization is applying a specific rule to a general situation (without proper evidence). For example:

You get what you pay for. Therefore, it is better to spend $200 on that t-shirt at that boutique shop than buy the same one at Marshall's for $29.


This is an example of the sweeping generalization. Generally "you get what you pay for" might be a good rule, but it certainly does not apply to all situations, and attempting to make it fit to all situations without proper consideration (or evidence) is fallacious.

That $29 shirt at Marshall's is a great deal, therefore, everything at Marshall's is a great deal.

In this one instance, the $29 shirt that we know goes for $200 in the department stores is a great deal. However, to conclude that because of this, everything that Marshall's sells is a great deal, is an example of the hasty generalization fallacy. In fact, this is what marketers do. They have what is called a "loss leader" where they lose money on a product or service just to bring people in and get them to commit this fallacy, ultimately spending a lot more on their overpriced items.
answered on Monday, Jan 26, 2015 08:06:09 AM by Bo Bennett, PhD

Comments

...
0
David Blomstrom writes:

Ah, I was researching this very question just now, and this was the first link I found in Google. Upvoted. ;)

posted on Wednesday, Feb 24, 2021 06:09:31 AM