Secundum quid (also called secundum quid et simpliciter, meaning "what in a certain respect and what absolutely")
is a type of informal fallacy that occurs when the arguer fails to recognize the difference between rules of thumb ( soft generalizations, heuristics that hold true as a general rule but leave room for exceptions) and categorical propositions, rules that hold true universally.
Since it ignores the limits, or , of rules of thumb, this fallacy is also named ignoring qualifications or sweeping generalizations. The expression misuse of a principle can be used as well.
Example
The arguer cites only the cases that support his point, conveniently omitting Bach, Beethoven, Brahms etc
In popular culture
The following quatrain can be attributed to C. H. Talbot:
I talked in terms whose sense was hid,
Dividendo, componendo et secundum quid;
Now secundum quid is a wise remark
And it earned my reputation as a learned clerk.
Types
Instances of
secundum quid are of two kinds:
-
Accident — a dicto simpliciter ad dictum secundum quid (where an acceptable exception is ignored) from. This is taking the usual case and inappropriately applying it to special cases.
-
Converse accident — a dicto secundum quid ad dictum simpliciter (where an acceptable exception is eliminated or simplified) from. This is taking one unusual case and inappropriately applying it to all cases.
See also
Further reading
