Logical Reasoning

PT106 · S1 · Q9 Political commentators see recent

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Political commentators see recent policies of the government toward Country X as appeasement, pure and simple.

Conclusion

This view is fundamentally mistaken. (i.e. recent policies towards Country X are not just appeasement)

Evidence (for)

Polls show that most people think that recent policies toward Country X are not appeasement.

Evaluate

The author is trying to convince us of her conclusion that certain political commentators are wrong.

The only evidence she offers is that according to polls, most people think that these political commentators are wrong.

What's wrong with that?

We have no idea if most people have any idea what they're talking about. Polls may show that most people think that "there are penguins at the North Pole", but that doesn't mean there are penguins at the North Pole (there are not; they live near the South Pole)

Goal

Let's look for an answer calling out the fact that an author isn't allowed to assume that just because most people believe A is true, that therefore A is true.

Some people would call this a semi-famous flaw known as Opinion vs. Fact

9.

The reasoning in the argument is questionable because

  1. The term “policies” is used

    Wrong Flaw: not Equivocation

    This is not the famous Equivocation flaw. The term policies is used consistently. Our objection to the author is that he thinks that whatever most people believe is true, is true. We weren't complaining that the definition of policies was ambiguous or shifting.

    1% picked this

  2. The political commentators discussed in

    Never a Flaw

    It's true that the specific commentators are not named, but that's not a problem with someone's reasoning. This would never be a correct answer. The test isn't ever asking us to complain that we lack a specific number, a specific measurement, a precise definition, or names of individuals. It's not about factual details like that. It's about a reasoning move from one idea to another. If we were told that the commentators were Bobby and Lisa, would that make any difference to how we perceived the argument?

    0% picked this

  3. Correct

    A claim is inferred to

    Why this is right

    The political commentators claimed, "the government's policies toward X are appeasement". The author's conclusion (inference) is, "this view is fundamentally mistaken", which is synonymous with "this claim is false". The author's evidence is, "most people disagree with the commentators", which is synonymous with "a majority of people believe their claim is false".

    Skill tested: Flaw · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    88% picked this

  4. The claim that the political

    Wrong Flaw: not Circular

    Saying that the premise is a restatement of the conclusion or assumes the truth of the conclusion means that we're accusing the argument of being Circular. Circular arguments don't really have any evidence offered. They just say, "Chocolate is the best, because nothing beats chocolate." But this argument had evidence. It was crappy evidence, but it was evidence. The author pointed to opinion polls as evidence to back up her view that the commentators are wrong. A circular argument would have sounded like, "This view is fundamentally mistaken, for there's no way we should be calling these recent policies appeasement."

    4% picked this

  5. It is assumed that what

    Wrong Flaw: not Part v. Whole

    This answer describes the famous Part vs. Whole flaw. It is saying that the premise said that "individuals in this country believe A" and that the conclusion then said, "thus the whole country believes A". Instead the argument was more like, "most people believe the commentators are wrong" "thus, the commentators are wrong"

    7% picked this

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