Logical Reasoning

PT128 · S2 · Q25 Although Stillwater Pond has been

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Although Stillwater Pond has been polluted by farm runoff for years, several species of fish still live there.

Conclusion

Assuming that the most populous fish species in the pond is the bullhead catfish (BC) then it must be that the local fishing guide believes that the BC has adapted best to living in polluted water.

Evidence

That pond has been polluted for years, and the fishing guide says that .

Evaluate

At first it's pretty hard to disagree with this logic. You have a rule that says "Most populous → best adapted", and so it's appropriate to say that if BC is most populous, then BC is best adapted.

I think the problem is that the conclusion specifically accuses the local fishing guide of believing something. Even if that something would be a true inference, we can't prove that some entity believes it.

The author is taking the fishing guide's belief that "most populous → best adapted", applying it to the finding of some recent studies to derive a possible inference, but then accusing the fishing guide of believing that inference.

How do we know the fishing guide is aware of these recent studies, or that the fishing guide trusts them enough to form beliefs off of them?

This type of flaw is assuming that someone believes an Implication of a Belief.

For example, it's flawed to say,

Even though we know that she went skiing with Superman, she might not know that missing link, that CK = Superman.

Goal

Look for an answer saying that local fishing guide might not know about these studies, might not trust them, might know of other studies that are more compelling, etc .... any possibility in which the recent studies say that BC is the most populous fish, but the local fishing guide have not formed a belief that BC has adapted the best to pollution.

25.

The argument above is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it

  1. takes for granted that the

    Wrong Assumed Belief

    The author is taking for granted that the local fishing guide believes that [the conclusion reached by recent studies, that the bullhead catfish is the most populous fish in the pond, is correct] The author is trying to use the fishing guide's rule of "most populous ? best adapted". In order to conclude that the guide believes BC is best adapted, the author only needs to assume that the guide believes BC is most populous.

    4% picked this

  2. fails to take into account

    Not an Objection

    The argument doesn't care whether BC is best adapted because they started off well-suited to polluted water or because they rapidly mutated/evolved to be well-suited to polluted water. So there's no objection in saying, "Well they may be best adapted, but they barely had to adapt." Saying a species is best adapted just means they're best suited to the environment, not that they've had to make the most adaptations.

    18% picked this

  3. fails to take into account

    Contradicted

    By saying "if the recent studies are correct in suggesting most populous is BC", the author is taking into account possibility that the recent studies are inaccurate.

    6% picked this

  4. Correct

    fails to take into account

    Why this is right

    Would it hurt the conclusion if the guide mistakenly believes some other species is most populous? Of course! It would contradict the conclusion, since by their rule, the guide would believe that this other fish is the one best adapted to living in polluted water. For example, if the argument had been, "Lois Lane knows she went skiing with Clark Kent. Clark Kent is Superman. So, Lois Lane knows she went skiing with Superman." This answer would be saying, "fails to consider that Lois Lane mistakenly believes that Clark Kent is Batman."

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

    69% picked this

  5. takes for granted that Stillwater

    Too Strong: only one

    Did the author need to assume that the bullhead catfish is the only species of catfish in the Pond? Of course not. If there are other species of catfish, that won't affect the author's argument in any way.

    3% picked this

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