Logical Reasoning

PT129 · S2 · Q15 Carla: Professors at public universities

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Carla: Professors at public universities should receive paid leaves of absence to allow them to engage in research.

Conclusion

(implied) Professors should not receive paid leaves of absence to allow them to engage in research

Evidence

Even if research does advance human knowledge and improves professors' teaching, why should we devote any of our limited resources to fund professors taking time off from teaching?

Evaluation

Calling it "taking time off from teaching" makes it sound like they're on vacation. If they're doing research that improves their teaching by keeping them up to date with developments in their field, then how is that even time off? When a teacher is prepping a lesson, is that "taking time off from teaching"? No, that's part of being a good teacher: training / preparation.

Goal

Look for answer that says that David is failing to consider that this research time isn't time off from teaching; it's basically a form of teacher training/prep so that they can be better teachers.

15.

David's response to Carla is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it

  1. Correct

    ignores the part of Carla's

    Why this is right

    This is a weird answer, especially since David doesn't seem to ignore her remarks in the sense that he says "even if you are right about the beneficial effects of research". But this is still the best available answer. It reflects our feeling of hearing David ask "why should we pay them to take time off from teaching" and thinking, "didn't you hear her say why? She said it would improve their teaching by keeping them up to date in their field"

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

    83% picked this

  2. takes for granted that the

    Too Strong: "only"

    We can't accuse David of assuming that the only function of a professor is teaching. He might believe that professors have numerous functions, while still believing that we shouldn't fund teachers for doing research.

    10% picked this

  3. incorrectly takes Carla's remarks as

    Too Strong

    Too Strong: "all funding" / Out of Scope: "tax money" No one ever mentioned tax money. Yes, it's a public university, but when David talks about "limited resources", we don't know if he's referring to "total tax dollars spent on public universities" or whether he means "the total budgets of universities, including public funds and private donations". So there's no way to say he thinks Carla is claiming that "all funding comes from taxes".

    2% picked this

  4. takes for granted that providing

    Too Strong: "only function"

    David isn't assuming that doing research is the only function of paid leaves of absence. It's the only type of paid leave of absence being discussed right now, but no one has indicated it's the only one that exists.

    4% picked this

  5. presumes, without providing justification, that

    Out of Scope: "vacations"

    No one is talking about vacations. Yes, David's language of "time off from teaching" starts to drift in that direction, but he might readily agree that being paid to do research is not the same as being paid to take a vacation.

    1% picked this

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