Unwarranted Extrapolation
Definition:
Unwarranted extrapolation is a logical fallacy where evidence from a single situation is used to draw conclusions of another situation.
Unwarranted extrapolation is a logical fallacy where evidence from a single situation is used to draw conclusions of another situation.
Analysis:
5,200 American Prisoners of War had been murdered through inhumane torture in prison camps during the Bataan March of Death. The people who hold accountability for such atrocious acts are the Japanese. In this one incident, the Japanese had murdered thousands of people. Therefore, it can be concluded that all Japanese people are murderous, not just the soldiers guarding the Bataan prison camp. Such are the conclusions the propagandist behind this poster had derived. With just one atrocious event, the propagandist is calling for the Americans to wipe out “every murdering Jap” since they are all supposedly as cruel as the Bataan prison guards. Such hasty conclusions derived with just one source is easily an example of bad logic. However, the propagandist disguises his bad logic with "reliable sources," an image of the headlines of a newspaper relating to the Bataan March of Death and increases the credibility of the poster. He also manipulates the emotions of the people by including an image of a Japanese soldier brutally beating a helpless, American soldier with the butt of his rifle. A sense of rage against the Japanese rises through these emotion provoking images and the cruel statistics of "5,200 Yank Prisoners Dead" persuades the viewer to "stay on the job" and fight the Japanese.
5,200 American Prisoners of War had been murdered through inhumane torture in prison camps during the Bataan March of Death. The people who hold accountability for such atrocious acts are the Japanese. In this one incident, the Japanese had murdered thousands of people. Therefore, it can be concluded that all Japanese people are murderous, not just the soldiers guarding the Bataan prison camp. Such are the conclusions the propagandist behind this poster had derived. With just one atrocious event, the propagandist is calling for the Americans to wipe out “every murdering Jap” since they are all supposedly as cruel as the Bataan prison guards. Such hasty conclusions derived with just one source is easily an example of bad logic. However, the propagandist disguises his bad logic with "reliable sources," an image of the headlines of a newspaper relating to the Bataan March of Death and increases the credibility of the poster. He also manipulates the emotions of the people by including an image of a Japanese soldier brutally beating a helpless, American soldier with the butt of his rifle. A sense of rage against the Japanese rises through these emotion provoking images and the cruel statistics of "5,200 Yank Prisoners Dead" persuades the viewer to "stay on the job" and fight the Japanese.