Hasty Generalization
Definition:
The scope of evidence (in context of course) is too small to support the conclusion.
Examples:
(i) Fred the Australian, stole my wallet. Thus, all Australians are thieves. (Of course, we shouldn't judge all Australians on the basis of one example.)
(ii) I asked six of my friends what they thought of the new taxes and they agreed that they are a good idea. The new taxes are therefore generally popular.
(iii) All crows are black. (Even though most of the crows (or even all of them) we see are black, it would be hasty to make such a generalization given what we know about the nature of ambinos.)
(iv) Pets are nice and cuddly therefore animals are generally nice and cuddly.
Proof:
Identify the importance of the issue of establishing an appropriate standard of inductive proof. Then demonstrate what the standard ought to be in this case and why the author either chose the wrong standard (or none at all) or didn't meet the correct one.
References:
Barker: 189, Cedarblom and Paulsen: 372, Davis: 103
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