Question

As Bob is driving on an exit off the freeway, he comes to a stop light and sees a homeless man asking people for spare change. “See, he’s a perfect example of why we shouldn’t be giving welfare benefits to the homeless,” Bob mutters to his wife. “He’s too lazy to get a job, but he’s healthy enough to beg people for their hard-earned money all day long.” What are the sample and the target in Bob’s argument? Are there any inductive fallacies present in Bob’s reasoning (bias, hastiness, appeal to anecdotal evidence, self-selection)? If so, explain why. If not, explain why not.

Answer 1

In Bob´s argument we can infer an inductive fallacy known as fallacy by association which it is affirmed that the qualities of a specific object correspond to those of a general group, through an inconsequential relationship. It is argued that one´s qualities are intrinsically or essentially qualities of another simply by association.

On this case, we can evidence a fallacy of anecdotal evidence, hurried generalization or law of small numbers which consists of establishing a generalized conclusion based on isolated or anecdotal facts.