Professor emeritus Maurice Finocchiaro (Philosophy) has just published his 17th book, The Fallacy of Composition: Critical Reviews, Conceptual Analyses, and Case Studies. It is a volume in a book series of “Studies in Logic and Argumentation,” published by College Publications in London.
This is the first book-length study of the fallacy of composition. It focuses on arguments from parts to whole, from micro to macro, and from some to all, discussing both their structures and the conditions of their correctness. The topic is approached through a series of critical reviews, conceptual analyses, and case studies.
The critical reviews elaborate interpretations and evaluations of works by distinguished philosophers, economists, and political sociologists. The conceptual analyses clarify notions such as argument of composition, fallacy of composition, hasty generalization, and flawed argument from analogy. The case studies explain issues such as: the geocentric geostatic argument from natural motion, the design argument for the existence of God, the iron law of oligarchy, the paradox of thrift, the argument from private to public debt, the paradox of the bumper harvest, and current arguments for global warming. Thus, the book is aimed at both scholars and students of philosophy, economics, and political sociology.
