Logical Reasoning

PT142 · S1 · Q8 Editorial: Our political discussion

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Editorial: Our political discussions tend to focus largely on the flaws of our nation's leaders, but we need to remind ourselves that these leaders were chosen democratically.

Conclusion (Thus)

To focus our attention on the flaws of our leaders is to indulge in a pointless distraction.

Evidence

These flawed leaders were chosen democratically. The real question that needs answering is how our nation's institutions and procedures enable such people to attain positions of power.

Evaluate

Our author thinks that focusing on the flaws of our leaders is a pointless distraction, because we should be trying to answer the question of how our institutions allow such flawed people to attain positions of power.

In terms of a Linking assumption, we'd be looking for, .

What about objections? How could we argue that ?

We could try to argue that by focusing our attention on the flaws of our leaders we are somehow helping ourselves answer the question about how our institutions and procedures allow such flawed people to attain positions of power.

Goal

Look for the aforementioned Linking idea or for a Defender answer saying,

Which one of the following is an assumption that the argument requires?

Correct
Examining an individual leader's personal
Why this is right
Seeing ruling-out language like "not/no" is always inviting on Necessary Assumption. These are answers we want to negate and see if they turn into an objection. Would this negation weaken? Examining a leader's personal flaws does reveal something about how the nation's institutions and procedures influence the selection of leaders. Yes, that would weaken. We could say, "So focusing on flaws is not a pointless distraction. After all, it reveals things that help us answer the real question that needs answering."
Skill tested: Necessary Assumption · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
91% picked this
Political discussions that focus on
Out of Scope: more common
This argument wasn't making any predictions about the future, so the fact that this answer is in future tense doesn't match the conversation. Since this answer is conditional, we want to look at it in diagrammed form (mentally or on our paper) and judge whether the author made this reasoning move. Did the argument make this move? if we don't examine then discussions our institutions and → focusing on flaws procedures will become more common No, the author never predicted that focusing-on-flaws would become more common.
3% picked this
The workings of the nation's
Too Strong: ensure / only
We know that strong language is a red flag on Necessary Assumption and this fireball has two red flags. The author was never saying that our current systems guarantee that only flawed individuals attain power. The author was just saying to the extent that we do have flawed individuals in positions of power, rather than focusing on their flaws we should figure out how our current systems allowed them to make it into seats of power.
3% picked this
As yet, no one in
Too Strong: no one
We know that strong language is a red flag on Necessary Assumption and this is saying not a single person has ever made any effort to critically examine the details of our institutions / procedures. That's way too strong. The author was merely saying that our political discussions tend to focus on leaders' flaws. That isn't denying the possibility that anyone has ever focused instead on institutions / procedures.
2% picked this
Concentrating on the flaws of
Out of Scope: greater dissatisfaction
The author never suggests that when we focus on the flaws of our leaders, it leads to greater dissatisfaction. The author is only claiming that we are pointlessly distracting ourselves from the real question that needs answering, not that we are increasing our animosity toward our leaders.
1% picked this

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