Logical Reasoning

PT113 · S3 · Q24 Town councillor: The only reason

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Town councillor: The only reason for the town to have ordinances restricting where skateboarding can be done would be to protect children from danger.

Conclusion

The town should not pass an ordinance prohibiting skateboarding in River Park.

Evidence

(1) The only reason for the town to restrict skateboarding would be to protect children from danger. (2) Park skateboarding is dangerous, but if banned, children will skateboard in the streets. (3) Street skateboarding is more dangerous than park skateboarding.

Evaluate

The argument's logic: enacting the ban would push children to a more dangerous alternative. So the ordinance — meant to protect children from danger — would actually expose them to greater danger. The principle that bridges the evidence and conclusion needs to capture this logic: don't enact a danger-reducing ordinance if it would produce greater danger.

Goal

Find a principle that says: ordinances meant to eliminate dangers should not be enacted when they would lead to greater dangers. That principle, plus the councillor's evidence, gives the conclusion.

24.

Which one of the following principles, if established, would provide the strongest support for the town councillor's argument?

  1. Ordinances that restrict the recreational

    Bad Conclusion Match

    This principle says: only restrict activities that pose a danger. The councillor agrees skateboarding is dangerous, so this principle would actually permit (not block) the ordinance. It doesn't deliver the conclusion that the ordinance should not be passed.

    1% picked this

  2. Since the town could be

    Bad Conclusion Match

    This principle pushes the wrong way: it says ordinances should restrict unnecessarily dangerous activities in publicly owned areas. River Park is presumably publicly owned, so this principle would tell the town to enact the ordinance — the opposite of what the councillor concludes.

    1% picked this

  3. Since safety in a recreational

    Bad Conclusion Match

    This principle says recreational activity regulation should be left to parents. That's a sweeping claim about who should regulate, not a principle the councillor's argument needs. The councillor is making a town-level argument and isn't deferring to parents — applying this principle would make the entire argument moot (the town wouldn't regulate at all), but it doesn't deliver the specific conclusion based on the specific evidence the councillor offers.

    1% picked this

  4. If recreational activities constitute a

    Bad Conclusion Match

    This principle says the council should enact ordinances to prohibit dangerous recreational activities. Skateboarding is dangerous, so this principle would mandate the ordinance — the opposite of what the councillor concludes.

    1% picked this

  5. Correct

    Ordinances that seek to eliminate

    Why this is right

    This is the principle the argument needs. The councillor's evidence: the ordinance is meant to eliminate the danger of park skateboarding, but enacting it would lead to street skateboarding, which is more dangerous. By this principle — don't enact a danger-eliminating ordinance if it leads to greater dangers — the conclusion (don't pass the ordinance) follows directly.

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

    96% picked this

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