Logical Reasoning

PT111 · S4 · Q15 Geneticist: Ethicists have fears, many

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Geneticist: Ethicists have fears, many of them reasonable, about the prospect of cloning human beings, that is, producing exact genetic duplicates.

Conclusion

The idea that a wealthy person will create an army of exact duplicates is completely unrealistic.

Evidence

Clones have to be raised and educated, which is a long-term process that would never produce identical adults when it comes to the original in terms of outlook, personality, or goals.

Evaluate

When we read Role or Main Conclusion, we read the paragraph expecting that the Conclusion will appear earlier than the Support. Specifically, it will usually be the very first claim or it will be some but / yet / however rebuttal.

Here, we start with an attribution to something that ethicists believe, and then we get a But pivot into our author's conclusion.

The last sentence could debatably be considered 2nd premise, but it's more of an add-on thought. It's not really support for the author's conclusion. The author's conclusion is only trying to convince us that "an army of exact duplicates is unrealistic", so we only care to hear why that is not realistic, not about what other stuff is more realistic.

Goal

They're asking us about the 3rd sentence, which is the premise for our author's conclusion.

So let's look for, .

15.

The claim that cloning will not produce adults with identical personalities plays which one of the following roles in the geneticist's argument?

  1. It is a reason for

    Too Strong: Various

    This answer would be great if it said "It is a reason for dismissing one specific fear". The author acknowledges that are are many reasonable fears about cloning that ethicists have. She isn't trying to dismiss all of them, just the one about an army of exact duplicates. Also, it's not clear that the ethicists are fearful of a wealthy person building an army of exact duplicates. That scenario is not actually attributed to them; it's attributed to something that gets portrayed in horror movies.

    14% picked this

  2. It is evidence that genetic

    Too Strong: Never Bad Conclusion Match

    This answer correctly identifies our claim as evidence but incorrectly calls the conclusion, "Genetic clones will never be produced successfully". Our author never said that. The conclusion is that "the notion that a wealthy person will create an army of exact duplicates is unrealistic".

    4% picked this

  3. It illustrates the claim that

    Too Strong: only Bad Conclusion Match

    This answer correctly identifies our claim as supporting (to illustrate a claim is to support it) but incorrectly calls the conclusion, "Only wealthy people will have genetic duplicates made of themselves". Our author never said that. The conclusion is that "the notion that a wealthy person will create an army of exact duplicates is unrealistic".

    0% picked this

  4. It is evidence for the

    Bad Conclusion Match

    This answer correctly identifies our claim as evidence but incorrectly calls the conclusion, "Wealthy people might use genetic duplicates as organ banks". The conclusion is that "the notion that a wealthy person will create an army of exact duplicates is unrealistic". We can tell that the claim we're being asked about is support for the 2nd sentence rather than support for the 4th sentence, by doing the why should I believe that test? Why should we believe that ... it's unrealistic to think that a wealthy person will create an army of exact duplicates? Because ... cloning will not produce adults with identical personalities. (Okay, makes sense) Why should we believe that ... wealthy people will use clones as a source of compatible organ transplants? Because ... cloning will not produce adults with identical personalities? (That doesn't make sense) The reason they'll use clones as organ banks is that clones will not produce adults with identical personalities? That's not right. The reason they'll use clones as organ banks is that when you have an organ transplantation surgery, the body's immune system will often reject the new organ, sensing it as a foreign intruder. However, the more genetically similar the source of the organ is (ideally a sibling, or even more ideally a clone), the more likely that the organ transplant will be "accepted" by the body. None of that is said, which is how we know that the last sentence was supported by anything.

    3% picked this

  5. Correct

    It is a reason for

    Why this is right

    This answer correctly identifies our claim as supporting (it is a reason for), and it correctly identifies the conclusion. The conclusion is that "the notion that a wealthy person will create an army of exact duplicates is unrealistic". That possible fear concerning cloning is unrealistic, the author says (even though many of the fears ethicists have are reasonable ones).

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

    78% picked this

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