Composition fallacy:

Conceptual Fallacy

Definition	Example
When it is assumed that something true of the constituents of a whole must also necessarily be true of the whole.	Paper money can be exchanged. An economy is composed of paper money, so an economy can be exchanged.
Also known as: distribution fallacy
Notes
This is the converse of the division fallacy.

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Case Study One

Were someone to argue “The average Canadian makes only 90% of what the average American makes, so Canada’s GDP is 90% of the GDP of the U.S.”, they would be committing the composition fallacy.

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Case Study Two

If you were to suggest that, because the average Japanese is 90% certain that ghosts exist, 90% of Japanese believe in ghosts, you would be committing the composition fallacy.

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Case Study Three

Even if you don’t like to eat sugar, flour, and eggs individually, it does not follow that you will not enjoy their composition in the form of a cake.

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^{Keep in mind that a fallacious argument does not entail an erroneous position.}

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