as Bob is driving

Question

As Bob is driving on an exit off the freeway, he comes to a stop light and sees a homeless man asking people for spare change. “See, he’s a perfect example of why we shouldn’t be giving welfare benefits to the homeless,” Bob mutters to his wife. “He’s too lazy to get a job, but he’s healthy enough to beg people for their hard-earned money all day long.” What are the sample and the target in Bob’s argument? Are there any inductive fallacies present in Bob’s reasoning? If so, explain why. If not, explain why not.

Answer 1

First and foremost, this all has to do with perspective and perspective changes from person to person. Perspective is unique. With that being said, this also means that truth is relative and the truth for Bob about homelessness may not be the same truth for the homeless begging man. Bob has no information as to why the homeless man is begging, and with more information his perspective might change; however, there is the flip side to this that perhaps Bob's perspective does not change and he is still adamant that the homeless man could be 'doing more' to earn his pocket change. Bob's reasoning is his opinion, it is not based in fact... and again this proves that both perspective and truth are relative to individual experience.