Political advertisement: Sherwood campaigns

Answer choices

1. A

   Not Sampling1% picked this

   bases a crucial generalization on a very

   This refers to one of the 10 Famous Flaws, Sampling, in which a general conclusion is based on a limited sample, which we have reason to worry is too small, self-selecting, or unrepresentative in some way. Any time an answer says, bases X on Y then X should match the conclusion and Y should match the evidence. Was the conclusion "a crucial generalization"? Nope, it's a specific idea about Sherwood ("Sherwood doesn't really oppose higher taxes").

   1%
2. B

   Not an Objection4% picked this

   fails to consider the possibility that something that is unavoidable might

   Since this answer begins with fails to consider / ignores the possibility, we can ask ourselves whether the idea that follows is an objection. Can we say, "hey, author -- even though Sherwood served on a city council that continually raised taxes, she truly does oppose higher taxes. After all, it's possible for something to be unavoidable but also be undesirable." No, that made no sense whatsoever. This answer has nothing to do with the argument. We didn't talk about anything "unavoidable". This answer is disagreeing with an argument that sounds more like this: "Young children sometimes fear puberty. But puberty is unavoidable. Thus puberty will be fine." We could object to that argument that "even though something is unavoidable it might nonetheless be undesirable".

   4%
3. C

   Not Necessary vs. Sufficient4% picked this

   mistakes something that is sufficient to bring about a result for something that is necessary to

   This refers to the most common of the 10 Famous Flaws, Necessary vs. Sufficient, in which the author presents a conditional logic premise and then applies it in an illegal backwards or reversed way to get to her conclusion. There's no conditional logic premise here, so this can't be the flaw.

   4%
4. D

   Not Ad Hominem5% picked this

   makes a personal attack on someone who holds a certain view rather than addressing the

   This refers to one of the 10 Famous Flaws, Ad Hominem, in which an author dismisses an argument because the source of the argument has a biased interest or some conflicting past behavior. This argument doesn't have a "personal attack" for evidence. It points to a candidate's history on city council.

   5%
5. E

   Correct87% picked this

   takes for granted that a characteristic of a group as a whole is shared by an individual

   Why this is right

   This refers to one of the 10 Famous Flaws, Whole to Part, in which an author assumes that a trait that belongs to a group therefore also applies to each part of the group. This author established that a characteristic, "supports higher taxes", that applied to a group as a whole (the city council), is shared by an individual member of that group (Sherwood). We were saying, "Just because the city council consistently increased taxes doesn't necessarily mean that every single person on the council (including Sherwood) was in favor of raising those taxes. Thus, maybe Sherwood has been steadfastly against higher taxes this whole time." This answer is an abstract way of addressing that flaw.

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

   87%