Composition 31four more teeth than the adult male. None of them would be as
effective as counting along a few jaws and denying the fact.
Plurium interrogationum is very effective as a means of intro-
ducing the semblance of democracy into the domestic scene. It
enables you to give children a choice over their destinies:
Would you prefer to go to bed now, or after you've finished your cocoa?
Do you want to put your bricks in the box, or on the shelf?
(Beware, though. After about ten years this will come back to you as:
Mum, would you prefer to buy me a disco deck or a motorbike for my
birthday?
He who sows the wind...)Composition
The fallacy of composition occurs when it is claimed that what is
true for individual members of a class is also true for the class
considered as a unit. Some nouns can be taken to refer either to
the thing as a whole or to the various parts which make it up. It is
fallacious to suppose that what is true of the parts must also be
true of the new entity which they collectively make up.
This must be a good orchestra because each of its members is a talented
musician.
(Each individual might be excellent but totally unable to play in
unison with colleagues. All of these virtuosos might be far too busy
trying to excel personally to play as an effective team.)Many a football manager has similarly transferred in many first-
class players, only to find himself transferred out. Unless they can
work as a team, it is easier to get the manager out of the ground
than the ball into the net.