Debts, Oligarchies, and Holisms: Deconstructing the Fallacy of Composition

Debts, Oligarchies, and Holisms: Deconstructing the Fallacy of Composition

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This is a critical appreciation of Govier’s 2006 ISSA keynote address on the fallacy of composition, and of economists’ writings on this fallacy in economics. I argue that the “fallacy of composition” is a problematical concept, because it does not denote a distinctive kind of argument but rather a...

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Main Author: Maurice A. Finocchiaro
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Windsor 2013-05-01
Series:Informal Logic
Online Access:https://informallogic.ca/index.php/informal_logic/article/view/3892
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spelling doaj-7d86c511911b400084f3455579f699962021-06-14T17:00:46ZengUniversity of WindsorInformal Logic0824-25772293-734X2013-05-01332Debts, Oligarchies, and Holisms: Deconstructing the Fallacy of CompositionMaurice A. Finocchiaro0University of Nevada, Las VegasThis is a critical appreciation of Govier’s 2006 ISSA keynote address on the fallacy of composition, and of economists’ writings on this fallacy in economics. I argue that the “fallacy of composition” is a problematical concept, because it does not denote a distinctive kind of argument but rather a plurality, and does not constitute a distinctive kind of error, but rather reduces to oversimplification in arguing from micro to macro. Finally, I propose further testing of this claim based on examples involving public vs. private debt in economics; oligarchic tendencies in politics, and the emergence of societal wholes in sociology.https://informallogic.ca/index.php/informal_logic/article/view/3892
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Maurice A. Finocchiaro
spellingShingle Maurice A. Finocchiaro
Debts, Oligarchies, and Holisms: Deconstructing the Fallacy of Composition
Informal Logic
author_facet Maurice A. Finocchiaro
author_sort Maurice A. Finocchiaro
title Debts, Oligarchies, and Holisms: Deconstructing the Fallacy of Composition
title_short Debts, Oligarchies, and Holisms: Deconstructing the Fallacy of Composition
title_full Debts, Oligarchies, and Holisms: Deconstructing the Fallacy of Composition
title_fullStr Debts, Oligarchies, and Holisms: Deconstructing the Fallacy of Composition
title_full_unstemmed Debts, Oligarchies, and Holisms: Deconstructing the Fallacy of Composition
title_sort debts, oligarchies, and holisms: deconstructing the fallacy of composition
publisher University of Windsor
series Informal Logic
issn 0824-2577
2293-734X
publishDate 2013-05-01
description This is a critical appreciation of Govier’s 2006 ISSA keynote address on the fallacy of composition, and of economists’ writings on this fallacy in economics. I argue that the “fallacy of composition” is a problematical concept, because it does not denote a distinctive kind of argument but rather a plurality, and does not constitute a distinctive kind of error, but rather reduces to oversimplification in arguing from micro to macro. Finally, I propose further testing of this claim based on examples involving public vs. private debt in economics; oligarchic tendencies in politics, and the emergence of societal wholes in sociology.
url https://informallogic.ca/index.php/informal_logic/article/view/3892
work_keys_str_mv AT mauriceafinocchiaro debtsoligarchiesandholismsdeconstructingthefallacyofcomposition
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