PHIL 3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Sampling Bias, Fallacy, Young Republicans
Document Summary
Rigid application of a generalization - when generalization (statements of the form fs are g ) is inappropriately applied to the case at hand. When a generalization with exceptions is applied to particular case, the inference is not valid. Hasty generalizations - an argument that relies on a small sample that is unlikely to represent the population. Typically, an inference from the claim that a few fs are g to the claim that all or most fs are g is weak. My two roommates support trump, and they know nothing about public policy, international affairs, ethics, philosophy, science, or anything else. The inference from two trump supporters to all or most trump supporters is weak. This is why anecdotes (stories about one"s personal experience) typically do not provide good support for generalizations. Groups of objects (like humans) are often quite diverse, so a small sample is unlikely to accurately represent the group.
