Logical Reasoning

PT111 · S3 · Q2 Raymond Burr played the role of

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Raymond Burr played the role of Perry Mason on television.

Conclusion (provides evidence that)

In the face of television, even some legal professionals are losing their ability to distinguish fiction from reality.

Evidence

A prestigious attorney said that the death of Raymond Burr (who played a lawyer on TV) makes lawyers feel as if we lost one of our own.

Evaluate

This author is guilty of a semi-famous flaw I like to call Bad Listening, because there isn't really a good name for it. There's a type of flawed response we call Straw Man, where you intentionally misrepresent your opponent's position so that it's easier to attack, but Bad Listening isn't intentionally trying to manipulate. It's just an author rebutting someone but not responding to or respecting what they said.

Our author is saying,

This reaction is straight-up contradicted twice by what the prestigious attorney actually said:

Although not a lawyer, Mr. Burr strove for such authenticity that we feel as if we lost one of our own.

Twice, this lawyer acknowledged that Mr. Burr is not really a lawyer and lawyers did not actually lose one of their own.

Goal

Look for something calling out our author on Bad Listening, since the lawyer clearly could distinguish fiction from reality.

2.

The reasoning in the argument is flawed because the argument

  1. takes the views of one

    Wrong Flaw: Not Sampling

    The author's conclusion is only saying, "Some (at least one) legal professionals", so the author's conclusion can be proven entirely by one example of a legal professional who has lost ability to distinguish truth from fiction. The author definitely does not conclude anything about all lawyers.

    13% picked this

  2. criticizes the lawyer rather than

    Wrong Flaw: not Ad Hominem

    The author is directly implicating the lawyer's statement, since she says "This comment from a prestigious attorney provides evidence that some lawyers can't tell fiction from reality." It would be more accurate to say the author infers something about the lawyer based on the lawyer's statement, and there's nothing wrong with doing so.

    3% picked this

  3. presumes that the lawyer is

    Trap

    Not Assumed Out of Scope: Qualified to Judge Acting This author does not need to assume that the lawyer is qualified to evaluate the performance of an actor. Our author is never evaluating or discussing how good or bad Burr's acting was. She is just saying she's stunned that this prominent lawyer doesn't realize that Burr was just an actor playing a TV lawyer.

    2% picked this

  4. focuses on a famous actor’s

    Not an Objection

    It's true that the author focused on Raymond Burr's famous portrayal of a lawyer rather than on the usual way in which lawyers are portrayed on TV, but so what? Why is that a problem with the author's logic? Our problem with the author's logic is that she sounds like she didn't listen to the prestigious attorney's statement carefully enough, since her interpretation of the lawyer's statement is contradicted by the statement itself.

    1% picked this

  5. Correct

    ignores the part of the

    Why this is right

    This calls out our author's Bad Listening. The quote from the lawyer clearly demonstrates an awareness of the difference between reality and fiction, because the lawyer says: - although not a lawyer - we feel as if we lost one of our own

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

    81% picked this

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