Historian: Those who claim that

Answer choices

1. A

   Bad Premise/Conclusion Match17% picked this

   presumes, without providing justification, that a claim cannot be true if those who advance it

   This accuses the argument of being, "Since the people claiming X are motivated purely by snobbery, X is false." The argument was actually, "Since many of the people claiming X are descendants of rich people whereas Shakespeare was relatively poor, the people claiming X are motivated purely by snobbery".

   17%
2. B

   Not a Flaw22% picked this

   takes for granted that anyone who is motivated purely by snobbery cannot also be motivated

   This is a valid assumption / inference to make. If I'm motivated purely by snobbery, then by definition I'm not motivated by money, fame, jealously, legitimate historical evidence, etc. This portrays the argument as being, "Since they are motivated purely by snobbery, we can conclude that they were not motivated by historical evidence". This doesn't match the argument core, but it is also a valid argument. If you accept that premise, then you have to accept that conclusion.

   22%
3. C

   Out of Scope4% picked this

   fails to consider adequately the possible motives of those who claim that Shakespeare did write the plays

   Out of Scope: people who claim Shakespeare was writer We're only assessing the motives of people who claim Shakespeare was not the writer. It's not relevant what the motives are of people who claim that Shakespeare was the writer.

   4%
4. D

   Correct54% picked this

   fails to exclude the possibility that there might be legitimate evidence motivating those who

   Why this is right

   Fails to consider / Ignores possibility phrasing means they're presenting us with a potential objection. Would it weaken the argument to say there is legitimate evidence motivating those who say Shakespeare didn't write those plays? Of course. That would contradict the idea that these people are motivated purely by snobbery.

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

   54%
5. E

   Wrong Flaw3% picked this

   makes use of an assumption that one would accept only if one has already accepted the

   This describes the famous flaw of Circular Reasoning, in which the conclusion is a reiteration of the premise. The author's argument wasn't circular. He did assume that descendants of aristocrats could be motivated by snobbery to deny authorship to someone (Shakespeare) who wasn't the child of an aristocrat. However, one could accept that assumption without having accepted that "all the people who claim Shakespeare wasn't the other are 100% motivated by snobbery".

   3%