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Full Idea
The sophistical argument 'if each is small, so too are all' is in one way true and in another false. For the whole composed of all the parts is not small, but it is composed of small parts.
Gist of Idea
'If each is small, so too are all' is in one way false, for the whole composed of all is not small
Source
Aristotle (Politics [c.332 BCE], 1307b36)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Politics', ed/tr. Reeve,C.D.C. [Hackett 2017], p.125
A Reaction
If neurons can't think, then brains can't think.
Related Idea
Idea 31 If bodily organs have functions, presumably the whole person has one [Aristotle]
| 22571 | 'If each is small, so too are all' is in one way false, for the whole composed of all is not small [Aristotle] |
| 2653 | If the parts of the universe are subject to the law of nature, the whole universe must also be subject to it [Cicero] |
| 6219 | The fallacy of composition is the assumption that what is true of the parts is true of the whole [Mautner] |
| 7933 | Don't assume that a thing has all the properties of its parts [Macdonald,C] |
| 11089 | Formally, composition and division fallacies occur in mereology [Hanna] |