Logical Reasoning

PT141 · S2 · Q17 If Suarez is not the most qualified

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If Suarez is not the most qualified of the candidates for sheriff, then Anderson is.

Conclusion (thus)

If the most qualified candidate is elected and Suarez is not elected, then Anderson will be.

Evidence

If Suarez is not the most qualified candidate for sheriff, then Anderson is.

Evaluate

There is conditional logic and repeating symbols within this argument, so it's a prime contender for diagramming with an algebraic recipe.

Premise: If X is not most Q, then Y is most Q. Conclusion: If most Q is selected and it's not X, then it must be Y.

But we could also get through this one conversationally. The premise is telling us that either S or A is the most qualified candidate.

Thus, if the most qualified candidate is selected, it will have to be S or A. Thus, if the most qualified candidate is selected and it's not S, then it must be A.

We could have alternatively concluded that

Goal

Look for a premise that gives you only two options for a certain thing. Then look for a conclusion that's saying, .

17.

The reasoning in which one of the following is most similar to the reasoning in the argument above?

  1. If the excavation contract does

    Bad Premise Match

    In the original argument, the premise and the conclusion both mention Suarez and Anderson. In this argument, the analogous concepts of Qui and Caldwell do not both show up in the premise and the conclusion (the premise doesn't mention Qui). The original argument gave us a conditional that reduces into an either/or: "either Suarez or Anderson is the most qualified candidate for sheriff". This premise does not give us options for a certain thing. It basically says either the lowest bidder will get the contract or Caldwell will (or potentially both, if Caldwell happens to be the lowest bidder". To match up with the original, we would want to hear something more like this: If Q isn't the lowest bidder, then C is. So if the contract goes to the lowest bidder and doesn't go to Q, then it will go to C.

    4% picked this

  2. Correct

    If the lowest bidder on

    Why this is right

    We can match this one up with the original's template: Premise: If X is not most Q, then Y is most Q. If D is not lowest bidder, then R is lowest bidder. Conclusion: If most Q is selected and it's not X, then it must be Y. If it goes to the lowest bidder and it's not D, then it must be R.

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

    88% picked this

  3. If Kapshaw is not awarded

    Bad Premise Match

    In the original argument, the concept of "most qualified" appeared in both the premise and the conclusion. In this argument, the analogous concept of "lowest bidder" only appears in the conclusion.

    6% picked this

  4. If Holihan did not submit

    Bad Premise Match

    In the original argument, we got a conditional that reduces into an either/or: "either Suarez or Anderson is the most qualified candidate for sheriff". This premise does not reduce to an either/or. We can't say "either Holihan or Easton is the lowest bidder". It's possible that neither of them are.

    1% picked this

  5. If Perez is not the

    Bad Conclusion Match

    We can match this one up with the original's premise, but the conclusion goes astray: Premise: If X is not most Q, then Y is most Q. If P is not lowest bidder, then S is lowest bidder. Conclusion: If most Q is selected and it's not X, then it must be Y. (should say) If contract goes to lowest bidder and doesn't go to P, then it must go to S. (actually says) If neither S nor P get the contract, then it didn't go to the lowest bidder.

    1% picked this

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