Logical Reasoning

PT133 · S3 · Q19 Professor: One cannot frame

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Professor: One cannot frame an accurate conception of one's physical environment on the basis of a single momentary perception, since each such glimpse occurs from only one particular perspective.

Conclusion

Any history book gives only a distorted view of the past.

Evidence

Just as a single momentary perception wouldn't give you an accurate sense of your physical environment (because it's only from one perspective), a single history book will only show you one perspective (the biases and prejudices of its author).

Evaluation

The most common correct answer on Method is an author presenting an Analogy. That seems to be happening here, since the conclusion is about history books only offering one perspective on history, and the author supports this with an analogy about seeing your physical environment.

Goal

Look for an answer saying that the author supports her conclusion about history books with an analogy about having more than one perspective on your physical environment.

19.

The professor's argument proceeds by

  1. attempting to show that one

    Not Flawed / Incorrect

    The is answer would work if it flipped its frown upside down. It's fair to say this argument "attempts to show that one piece of reasoning (about history) is correct by comparing it with another, presumably sound, piece of reasoning (about one's physical environment)".

    17% picked this

  2. developing a case for one

    No Absurd Implications

    There's no part of this argument where the author says, "After all, if a single history book didn't give a distorted view, then that would lead to X, Y, and Z, which is surely absurd". Showing the implications of logic is a very common correct answer on Method, but it doesn't match this argument at all.

    0% picked this

  3. Correct

    making a case for the

    Why this is right

    Here is the fixed version of (A). The author makes the case for "each history book offers an incomplete view" by showing that "a single momentary perception offers an incomplete view". When authors rely on an analogy, they are presuming that the analogy has merit and relevance, so it's fair to say that our author assumes that the analogous argument she's leaning on is a cogent (i.e. reasonable) one.

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

    73% picked this

  4. arguing that because something has

    Bad Premise Match

    The "certain group of characteristics" is the hardest thing to match, so if it feels weird enough to reject this, that's good enough reason to eliminate it. If we were trying to match it up, we'd start with the conclusion, which is saying that "a single history book always offers a distorted view". According to this answer choice's language, "something = a single history book" and "closely, related characteristic = offers a distorted view". That would mean that the premise should be saying that "something = a single history book" has a certain group of characteristics. But there's no premise that says that a single history book has a certain group of characteristics.

    2% picked this

  5. arguing that a type of

    Bad Conclusion Match

    The conclusion is about a single history book, not a type of human cognition. The analogy was about a type of human cognition (a single perception) being an unreliable gauge of a physical environment, but the conclusion about a history book offering only one perspective on history has nothing to do with a type of human cognition being unreliable.

    9% picked this

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