Logical Reasoning

PT140 · S2 · Q1 The quantity and type of pollution

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The quantity and type of pollution that entered the river last Thursday night suggest that the local auto repair shop is responsible.

Conclusion

If we don't get stronger evidence of wrongdoing or a confession from someone, we can't be certain enough who polluted river to impose a penalty on the suspected repair shop.

Evidence

The penalty for this pollution is very severe.

Evaluate

The author acknowledges that the repair shop is a likely suspect, but then pivots to say,

The author seems to have some principle in mind like,

Goal

Look for something like ,

1.

Which one of the following principles, if valid, most helps to justify the reasoning in the argument?

  1. Correct

    The more severe the penalty

    Why this is right

    This is more of a Strengthener than a Conclusion-Prover, but the question stem only needs it to Strengthen. We know that the penalty for polluting is very severe, so according to this answer choice we need to be lots more certain that someone is guilty before we're justified in imposing a penalty. It's easy to like this answer, since it's 1/2 premise language (severe penalty) and 1/2 conclusion language (not sufficiently certain to justify imposing penalty). But it might be harder to like than a classic Conditional principle, because it's phrased in that Volume Knob form (the more X, the more Y).

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

    89% picked this

  2. Penalties for crimes should be

    Unrelated to Goal

    This is a principle that would help us judge how severe we should make a penalty, when we're designing it, or evaluating it. We want a principle that helps us judge whether or not we should impose a penalty that already exists. We're not evaluating whether the penalty is the "right" level of severity. We're evaluating whether a penalty that is severe should be imposed on a plausible suspect (the auto repair shop).

    2% picked this

  3. The severity of the penalty

    Unrelated to Goal

    This is a principle that would help us judge how severe we should make a penalty, when we're designing it, or if we were thinking about changing it or getting rid of it. We want a principle that helps us judge whether or not we should impose a penalty that already exists. This principle would help someone conclude, depending on how much harm is caused by polluting a river, how severe the penalty should be for polluting a river. This principle doesn't help us justify an argument saying, "don't impose the severe penalty on someone who's simply a plausible suspect".

    2% picked this

  4. The more severe the penalty

    Bad Conclusion Match

    This gets the Premise consideration correct (how severe a penalty is), but doesn't give us language relating to the judgment rendered in the conclusion. Our author isn't concluding, "Thus, there probably won't be any perpetrator who admits responsibility". This answer would help justify that conclusion. Our conclusion is, "If there isn't a confession or more evidence, don't impose penalty."

    3% picked this

  5. The severity of the penalty

    Unrelated to Goal

    This is a principle that would help us judge how severe we should make a penalty, when we're designing it, or if we're considering amending the penalty. We want a principle that helps us judge whether or not we should impose a penalty that already exists. Only choice (A) was actually a principle about whether or not we should impose a penalty, which is what the conclusion is talking about.

    4% picked this

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