Blackwell Reference Online

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The essence of generalization is simplification by omission of irrelevant details. In logic , a concept A is a generalization of concept B, if and only if every instance of concept B is also an instance of concept A, and there are instances of concept A that are not instances of concept B. For example, a cockroach is an insect, which in turn includes insects that are not cockroaches. Talking about insects omits the distinctions among cockroaches, beetles, flies, etc. Logical generalizations are based on sets whose instances have one or more attributes in common. They give rise to taxonomies, such as the Linnaean classification in biology. Logical generalizability is the ability to find meaningful common attributes among disparate sets of instances. Except for their membership in the same set, this may not be easy. For example, it would be hard to find a common attribute among cockroaches, artifacts, poets, and scientific theories. The inability to find a conceptual basis for a set of instances limits logical generalizability. According to category theory , A is the prototype of a category of instances B if and only if all instances of B belong to the same category, and A is judged to be the most typical among them. A prototype can be considered a generalization of B inasmuch as it possesses the defining characteristics of instances in B. Unlike in logic, where all members of a ... log in or subscribe to read full text