Philo says, "From observing the growth of a hair, can we learn anything concerning the generation of a man? Would the manner of a leaf's blowing, even though perfectly known, afford us any instruction concerning the vegetation of a tree?" Philo's point is that ...

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Philo argues that we cannot learn anything about the generation of a human from observing the growth of a hair, or about the vegetation of a tree from observing the blowing of a leaf because we are not justified in transferring from parts to the whole. In other words, we cannot generalize from observations of individual parts of a system to make broader conclusions about the entire system.

Philo Says, "From Observing the Growth of a Hair, Can