Logical Reasoning

PT140 · S1 · Q10 Vincent: No scientific discipline

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Vincent: No scientific discipline can study something that cannot be measured, and since happiness is an entirely subjective experience, it cannot be measured.

Vincent's Statements

1. can't be measured → sci discipline can't study 2. happiness is an entirely subjective experience 3. happiness can't be measured 4. (assumes: subjective experiences can't be measured)

Yolanda's Statements

1. Optometry and happiness research rely on subjects' reports of how they feel. 2. Optometry is a scientific discipline

Evaluate

Does Yolanda disagree with any of Vincent's explicit claims?

Does Yolanda suggest ... 1. some scientific disciplines do study something that can't be measured? 2. happiness isn't entirely subjective? 3. happiness can be measured?

Yolanda definitely isn't arguing #2.

It's a little unclear whether "relying on subjects' reports" qualifies as "can be measured" for Yolanda. I would lean towards thinking we're allowed to make that equivalence.

If we're researching happiness, and we try playing Mozart for you over while you eat breakfast, and then we ask to self-report your happiness on a 1 to 10 scale, the number you give us is a measurement. It's a data point.

If Yolanda doesn't think that self-reporting counts as measuring, but she thinks optometry is a scientific discipline, then she thinks that scientific disciplines can study something that can't be measured.

If Yolanda does think that self-reporting counts as measuring, then she thinks that happiness can be measured and thus that subjective experiences can be measured.

Goal

I'd be hoping for the answers to give me more clarity on how to interpret Yolanda's statements.

She's either disagreeing with Vincent's first claim, or she's disagreement with his last claim (and the assumption that got him from claim 2 to claim 3).

10.

Vincent's and Yolanda's statements provide the most support for concluding that they disagree over which one of the following?

  1. Happiness is an entirely subjective

    Unsupported Disagree Position

    If anything, we would assume that Yolanda and Vincent agree on this matter. Vincent clearly agrees with this, but we can't derive from Yolanda that happiness isn't entirely subjective. Can we support, from her paragraph, that "at least part of happiness is an objective experience"? No.

    5% picked this

  2. Optometry is a scientific discipline.

    Out of Scope Person 1: optometry

    We know that Yolanda agrees to this, but we couldn't derive from Vincent's statements that he thinks that optometry is not a scientific discipline.

    2% picked this

  3. Correct

    A scientific discipline can rely

    Why this is right

    Vincent would disagree. In going from claim 2 to claim 3, he's assuming that "if entirely subjective experience, then can't be measured", and his claim 1 says that "if can't be measured, then scientific discipline can't study it". So Vincent is logically committed to "If entirely subjective, then can't have scientific discipline". Yolanda would agree with this, because these thinks that optometry "relies on subjective reports" and "is a scientific discipline".

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

    78% picked this

  4. Happiness research is as much

    Out of Scope Person 1: optometry

    Since Vincent never discusses optometry, we know we can't derive his opinion on this answer choice.

    7% picked this

  5. Experiences that cannot be measured

    Trap

    Reversed Logic of Person 1 Out of Scope Person 2: can't be measured Vincent committed himself to this assumption: entirely subjective → can't be measured This answer choice is saying, can't be measured → entirely subjective So, we have no way to infer Vincent's position on the conditional in this answer choice, because all he said relating to this connection was a reversed version. We have no idea if the thinks this connection works in the opposite direction as well, so we don't know whether he agrees or disagrees.

    8% picked this

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