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l for children because it occupies their attention for hours and keeps
them off the streets.”
Is this argument against the idea that TV can be harmful for children convincing? It is an example
of the fallacy called irrelevant reason. This fallacy occurs when the argument given to support a
proposition has little or no relevance to the original proposition. Let us look at one more example.
“Conservationists have suggested that we could conserve fuel by increasing the tax on gasoline.
But more taxes, whether they’re paid by the oil companies or passed on to the consumer at the
pump, will not produce one more barrel of oil.”
· “I don’t see how he can get elected. No one I know is going to vote for him.”
What’s wrong with this argument? This is the hasty generalization fallacy. It occurs when an
isolated or exceptional case is used as the basis for making a general conclusion. In statistical
terms, it is making a conclusion about a population based on information obtained from a sample
that is biased or too small to be representative. It is an error of inductive reasoning, going from the
particular to the general when it is not justified by the evidence.
. “If socialized medicine will result in better and lower-cost health care, shouldn’t the same
logic be applied to automobiles?