[The fallacy of composition arises when one infers that something is true of the whole from the fact that it is true of some part of the whole.] Yes, Trump and the Republican cheerleading section online and on cable news and talk radio harped on every extreme proposal [of the Democrats]. But this wasn’t just a function of the fallacy of composition, where one loony activist says something off the wall and the GOP amplifies it far beyond reason in order to tar the opposition unfairly. (Damon Linker, “The Left Got Crushed,” The Week, 11/04/2020.)
This word can also be synonymous with generalization and oversimplification when used as described above.
[Note: We also seek to use the best and most recent examples of words and phrases which most clearly show their use. To the extent these ever involve politics, as is sometimes the case, the passages used are not intended and any explicit or implicit reference to our political views.]
Leave a Reply