What Are Some Dicto Simpliciter Examples?
An example of a dicto simpliciter would be that all scientists are closed-minded and that if something does not fit into a scientist’s existing scientific laws, they will not consider it a possibility. This is a dicto simpliciter because it states that all scientists are one specific way when, in reality, this is not true.
This statement takes a specific point about some scientists and makes it about all scientists. However, there are many scientists who are interested in looking for new ideas and explanations in the world. There are many scientists who do research in odd areas and on odd topics such as crop circles, the Bermuda Triangle, ghosts and the field of cryptozoology. Other examples of dicto simpliciter would be a statement that people of faith are close-minded or that people who are atheists are close-minded. Both of these examples take a group of people and generalize their beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.
Dicto simpliciter is a sweeping generalization statement that results in unfair stereotyping. While a dicto simpliciter statement may be true in some instances, it is not true in all instances. Therefore, drawing a conclusion using the dicto simpliciter statement will lead to invalid conclusions in many instances.
