Logical Reasoning

PT115 · S4 · Q19 It is obvious that one

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It is obvious that one ought to have a will stating how one wishes one’s estate to be distributed.

Conclusion (it is obvious)

One ought to have a will stating how one wishes one's estate to be distributed.

Evidence

If you don't have a will, then distant relatives you've never even met have a greater legal right to one's estate than one's beloved friends do.

Evaluate

Suppose we say this,

What does this assume? It assumes .

If we say,

What does this assume? It assumes .

Goal

So since this argument is saying, ,

it must be assuming that , or something similar to that meaning.

19.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

  1. No one wants his or

    Too Strong: no one

    The author is definitely thinking that people would rather have their estate go to their beloved friends than to their distant relatives. But the author doesn't have to commit to this extreme claim that no one ever wants their estate to go to someone they haven't met. Some people may have outlived all their friends, so their best option is giving their estate to distant relatives. Some people may write a will that directs that their estate be given to a charity or foundation, in which case the money is being given to people the benefactor has not met.

    21% picked this

  2. One’s estate should go only

    Too Strong: only

    The concept of deserving is out of scope here. The author is just suggesting that people would rather have their estates end up with beloved friends than with distant relatives. But no one is saying either one of those parties deserve the estate more than the other. Also, this answer isn't even in Relative terms like the argument. If an answer said, "Beloved friends are more deserving of one's estate than are distant relatives", it would be pretty tempting. However, this answer is talking about an Absolute sense of are you / aren't you deserving, which comes out of nowhere.

    2% picked this

  3. Distributions of estates under current

    Out of Scope: unjust

    The author's argument isn't that the laws ought to be changed; it's that people ought to have a will written. So she might be perfectly content with the justness of current inheritance laws.

    4% picked this

  4. Correct

    People are generally not indifferent

    Why this is right

    This has the lovable quality of ruling out an idea with "not / no". If we negate it, does it turn into an objection? People are generally indifferent about how their estates are distributed. Sure that weakens. The only reason the author is insisting we should all have wills is because if we don't, the money will be distributed to X rather than Y. If we respond, "Cool, man. I don't care. I'm totally indifferent about how my estate gets distributed", then we are able to object, "See? I don't need to have a will." Our predicted assumption was that: "People want to avoid money going to their distant relatives when it could otherwise go their beloved friends". This answer is now just deriving something necessary from that claim: "People have preferences about where their money goes".

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

    62% picked this

  5. One’s beloved friends have a

    Opposite: greater legal right

    The passage actually tells us that distant relatives, under current laws, have a greater legal right to our estate (if we don't have a will) than our beloved friends do. It's precisely because our beloved friends have less legal right to our estate (if we don't write a will) that the author thinks we should be writing a will.

    11% picked this

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