Logical Reasoning

PT119 · S3 · Q13 It is characteristic of great

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It is characteristic of great artists generally, and of great writers in particular, to have a discerning view of the basic social and political arrangements of the society in which they live.

Conclusion (Therefore)

The greater a writer one is, the more astute one will be in perceiving the basic social and political arrangements of one's society.

Evidence

It's a characteristic of great writers to have a discerning view of the basis social and political arrangements of the society in which they live.

Evaluate

This argument is a little weird. It's sort of like this:

It's a characteristic of great athletes, and of great basketball players in particular, to be tall. Therefore, the greater a basketball player is, the taller they are.

It's taking a trait that is associated with great writers but then turning it into this incredibly strong Volume Dial idea (the more x, the more y).

Just as we saw with the basketball example, the fact that a quality is associated with something doesn't mean it's associated directly proportionally!

Goal

Look for an answer describing this distinction between a generalization (great writers are astute observers of the sociopolitical arrangements of their society) and a proportional relationship (the greater you are, the more astute you are).

13.

Which one of the following most accurately describes a flaw in the reasoning above?

  1. It assumes, without providing justification,

    Not Sampling

    This answer choice describes the famous Sampling flaws, in which the author assumes that something that is true of a sample is true of a broader group, or vice versa. This answer seems to be trying to bait people into caring about the opening line saying "great artists generally, and of great writers in particular". That part about great artists generally has nothing to do with the reasoning move from "it's characteristic that great writers do X" to "the greater you are, the more X you do".

    8% picked this

  2. It assumes, without providing justification,

    Bad Evidence/Conclusion Match

    This argument had nothing to do with making a move from "sometimes X" to "always X". That would have sounded more like this: Great writers are sometimes astute observers. Therefore, every great writer must be an astute observer

    8% picked this

  3. It assumes, without providing justification,

    Not Assumed

    The argument says that these great writers have astute insight into political and social arrangements of their society. So not only did the author not assume what this answer is saying, but she also seems to have explicitly contradicted it.

    0% picked this

  4. It assumes, without providing justification,

    Too Strong: only

    The argument doesn't assume, "If you can't make a discerning criticism of your society, then you're not a great individual".

    2% picked this

  5. Correct

    It assumes, without providing justification,

    Why this is right

    If an answer is structured, "Assumes that because X, Y", we can check whether X matches the Evidence and Y matches the Conclusion. Did the evidence talk about "people who have one quality tend to have a second quality"? Yes. Writers who have the quality of 'greatness' tend to have the second quality (the characteristic quality) of 'being an astute observer of the basic sociopolitical arrangements of their society'. Does the conclusion talk about "those who have more of the first will have more of the second"? Yes. It says that "the more greatness you have, the more astuteness you have in observing the basic arrangements of your society".

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

    82% picked this

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