Logical Reasoning

PT113 · S4 · Q9 Cultural historian: Universal acceptance of

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Cultural historian: Universal acceptance of scientific theories that regard human beings only as natural objects subject to natural forces outside the individual’s control will inevitably lead to a general decline in morality.

Conclusion

If everybody accepts that we're just natural objects subject to natural forces outside our control, it will inevitably lead to a general moral decline.

Evidence (after all)

If people don't think they're responsible for their actions, they'll feel unashamed when they act immorally.

If everybody starts feeling unashamed when they act immorally, it's bound to lead to a general moral decline.

Evaluate

The author's conclusion is saying that .

The author's evidence gives us a chain of logic that takes us to "general decline in morality". What triggers it?

If people do not believe they are responsible for their actions.

Did the author's conclusion say ?

No it was talking about everybody believing (universal acceptance of theories saying) that humans are just natural objects, subject to natural forces outside our control.

The author must be assuming that, .

No, so the correct answer will try to establish that. The author just said that

When we find our Conclusion on Sufficient Assumption, we can ask ourselves if anything in the conclusion was never discussed in the Evidence. In this case, was only discussed in the conclusion.

Thus, that idea will have to be in the correct answer.

If we want to see the Conclusion as the logic path we're trying to build, we can write it with an extended conditional:

Univ ------------------------------------> gen mor accept decline

We can think about what pieces of that logic path the evidence has given us: ~believe ---> feel ---------> gen mor resp unashamed decline

The correct answer needs to give us this first piece, in order for us to assemble the logic path the conclusion is taking.

Univ ---> ~believe accept resp

Put more simply, the conclusion is saying A ----------------------------> D and the evidence provided so far has given us B ------> C -------> D so we want the answer to give us A -----> B

When we combine answer + evidence, we get the logic path of the conclusion.

Goal

Let's look for .

The correct answer might be in contrapositive form, and trap answers might combine these ideas but in illegal reversed or negated form.

9.

The conclusion drawn by the cultural historian follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

  1. Science does not enable human

    Unrelated to Goal

    If it's not talking about "universal acceptance of sci theories that regard humans as natural objects subject to uncontrollable natural forces", then it's useless to us. We can't prove the claim "a = x", without at some point naming a fact about "a". Similarly, we can't prove a conclusion about "universally accepting these theories" without the evidence or the answer choice providing a fact about what happens when we "universally accept these theories".

    1% picked this

  2. Correct

    Human beings who regard themselves

    Why this is right

    This gives us the missing link we anticipated: we accept that humans ? won't believe we're are just natural objects resp for our actions With this answer, the author can now prove her conclusion. 1. if we all accept these theories that regard humans only as natural objects, then 2. we will all regard ourselves only as natural objects, so 3. we will lose our sense of responsibility for our actions, so 4. we will feel unashamed when we act immorally, and so 5. this will lead to general moral decline. The evidence linked 3/4/5. This answer links 2/3. Our common sense of what it means to "accept a theory" is what links 1/2.

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

    76% picked this

  3. People who have a sense

    Unrelated to Goal

    If it's not talking about "universal acceptance of sci theories that regard humans as natural objects subject to uncontrollable natural forces", then it's useless to us. We can't prove the claim "a = x", without at some point naming a fact about "a". Similarly, we can't prove a conclusion about "universally accepting these theories" without the evidence or the answer choice providing a fact about what happens when we "universally accept these theories".

    15% picked this

  4. Some scientific theories hold that

    Too Weak

    If it's not talking about "universal acceptance of sci theories that regard humans as natural objects subject to uncontrollable natural forces", then it's useless to us. Is this answer talking about those theories? We're not sure. If we knew those theories held that humans are not responsible for their actions, then accepting those theories would mean that humans stopped believing they are responsible for their actions, which would then take us to the finish line of general moral decline. But we don't know if the theories this answer refers to overlap at all with the ones the author is talking about in her conclusion.

    3% picked this

  5. Scientific explanations that regard human

    Negated Conclusion

    This is just taking the Conclusion and performing an illegal negation on it. If we're trying to prove "rainy days are worth living", it doesn't help us to get an answer that says "non-rainy days aren't worth living".

    5% picked this

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