Generality

Event A is more general than event B, iff every instance of B is also an instance of A.

Example from Normalized legal drafting and the Query method (Allen, 1978)#

  • “penalty” is more general than “fine”
  • “penalty” is more general than “imprisonment”

Colloquial usage of “generalization”

Paraphrased from a Finnish source, so trust my word. :-P /Inari

Consider the following statements and their (unjustified) conclusions:

  • All humans can walk
    • conclusion: All mammals can walk
  • It’s sunny today
    • conclusion: It’s sunny always

Despite colloquial usage, these conclusions are not generalisations.

Mammal is a generalization of human, and always is a generalization of today. But the statement “it’s sunny always” is not a generalization of “it’s sunny today”.

In all worlds where it’s sunny always, it is also sunny today. So the logically correct direction is:

  • it’s sunny today is a generalization of it’s sunny always.

Questions

Is this confusion about generality of statements relevant in legal contracts?

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