(Fallacies of) generalization

Various forms of fallacies where generalizing conclusions are drawn on the basis of inaccurate or insufficient information, or where general statements are illicitly applied to specific situations.

This topic is still work in progress and therefore incomplete.

• Hasty generalization – when a general rule is established on the basis of (too) few examples.

• The naturalistic fallacy consists in deducting how things ought to be from what they are at the moment.

• Overwhelming exception – when such broad exceptions to a claim exist that the original statement no longer has any meaningful scope.

• The mereological fallacy consists of attributing properties of a complex system to one of its components.

• The accident fallacy consists of ignoring an exception that breaks the general rule, even though there are reasons to apply the exception in that specific case.

• Fallacies of emergence
  • Fallacy of division
  • Fallacy of composition

• Ambiguity fallacy
  • Intensional fallacy
  • Syntactic ambiguity
    • Generic generalization
  • Motte-and-Bailey fallacy

• Ecological fallacy

• Faulty generalization on Wikipedia