Logical Reasoning

PT140 · S1 · Q19 One should not intentionally

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One should not intentionally misrepresent another person's beliefs unless one's purpose in doing so is to act in the interest of that other person.

Principle

Unless = "if it's not the case that"

If you're not acting then you shouldn't in the interest of → purposefully misrepresent person X person X's beliefs

Evaluate

To violate a principle = to refute a conditional

To rebut / contradict / refute a conditional or principle, you just need to provide at least one example in which the trigger is true but the outcome is false. (LEFT side = happening, RIGHT side = not happening)

If the principle were , then violating that principle would feel like, X applies, but we didn't do Y.

Since we had a principle that was then violating that principle would feel like,

We weren't acting in Person X's interest, but we did misrepresent X's beliefs.

Goal

Look for an answer that establishes 1. not acting in Person X's interest 2. misrepresented Person X's beliefs

19.

Which one of the following actions most clearly violates the principle stated?

  1. Correct

    Ann told someone that Bruce

    Why this is right

    This establishes that Ann .. 1. was not acting in Bruce's interest (she did so merely to make him look ridiculous) and 2. misrepresented Bruce's beliefs (even though she knew he did not think this)

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

    55% picked this

  2. Claude told someone that Thelma

    Misses One

    This establishes that Claude .. misrepresented Thelma's beliefs (even though he knew she believed no such thing) but it says he was acting in Thelma's interest (he did so solely to keep someone from bothering her) The principle allows for people lying about your beliefs if they're doing it for your sake.

    27% picked this

  3. In Maria's absence John had

    Misses Both

    did John misrepresent Maria's beliefs? we aren't told. was he acting in her interest? yes, which is the opposite of what we want. That works with the principle.

    12% picked this

  4. Harvey told Josephine that he

    Misses One

    Harvey is not acting in J's interest (he just wants her to like him) So we're good there. But, does Harvey misrepresent J? No. He misrepresents himself, in disingenuously claiming "Wow, Jo-jo. You have star potential. Really. No I definitely don't say that to all the girls."

    3% picked this

  5. Wanda told people that George

    Misses One

    This establishes that Wanda is not acting in George's interest (she wants ppl to know that G sucks at geography) We're good there. Does she misrepresent George? Not sure, but it seems like if anything she told the truth. By wording it "she wanted people to know he knows little" rather than "she wanted people to think he knows little", the sentence seems to convey that the actual truth of the matter is that he knows little about geography. So saying that George believes that Egypt is in Asia might be correctly representing his busted up geography beliefs. We don't have to think that hard, though. The fact that this answer fails to establish she did misrepresent his beliefs makes it wrong.

    3% picked this

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