Logical Reasoning

PT124 · S1 · Q22 Doctor: Being overweight has long

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Doctor: Being overweight has long been linked with a variety of health problems, such as high blood pressure and heart disease.

Opposing Point

Being overweight has long been linked with a variety of health problems, such as high blood pressure and heart disease.

Premise

But recent research conclusively shows that people who are slightly overweight are healthier than those who are considerably underweight.

Conclusion

Therefore, to be healthy, it suffices to be slightly overweight.

Evaluate

It could be that neither those who are slightly overweight or considerably underweight are healthy. There is a difference between someone who is healthier than someone else and someone is actually healthy. This is the difference between a relative claim and one that is absolute.

22.

The argument's reasoning is flawed because the argument

  1. ignores medical opinions that tend

    Contradiction

    No medical opinions contrary to the one drawn are presented in the argument.

    3% picked this

  2. never adequately defines what is

    Wrong Flaw

    There is no equivocation with respect to the term “healthy.” It is used without implication of different meanings of the term.

    5% picked this

  3. does not take into account

    Contradiction

    Stating that someone is overweight compares their weight with what it should be. There is not comparison between their weight and the appropriate weight for someone else. The comparison between people occurs after it is determined whether someone is overweight, underweight, or has an appropriate weight.

    6% picked this

  4. holds that if a person

    Wrong Flaw

    This describes negated logic. But the argument is not based on conditional logic, but rather comparative reasoning.

    20% picked this

  5. Correct

    mistakes a merely relative property

    Why this is right

    This correctly describes the difference between someone who is healthier than someone else and someone who is actually healthy.

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

    66% picked this

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