A lack of trust in one's neighbors

Answer choices

1. A

   Necessary vs. Sufficient3% picked this

   treats something that is merely sufficient to produce a result as if it were necessary

   This answer is describing a conditional logic flaw that does not appear in this argument. An argument which exhibits this flaw might look like this: If people in a neighborhood routinely lock their doors, the neighborhood will have a high burglary rate. The River Heights neighborhood has a high burglary rate. People in the River Heights neighborhood routinely lock their doors.

   3%
2. B

   Bad Conclusion Match4% picked this

   draws a moral conclusion from evidence that could only support a

   The conclusion is a statement about causation. It is not a statement about what is right or wrong.

   4%
3. C

   Self-Contradiction1% picked this

   bases its conclusion on data that

   There is nothing contradictory about people routinely locking their doors and neighborhoods having higher burglary rates.

   1%
4. D

   Circular Reasoning1% picked this

   asserts in a premise what it is trying to establish in

   The premise (evidence) is about a correlation between burglary rates and people locking their doors. The conclusion is making a completely different claim about lack of trust leading to lack of respect for the law.

   1%
5. E

   Correct90% picked this

   treats what could be the effect of something as if it were the cause

   Why this is right

   The argument assumes that a lack of trust in one's neighbors is the cause of the higher burglary rates, when in fact it may be that the higher burglary rates cause people to lock their doors more frequently. It is possible that people in neighborhoods with higher burglary rates have good reason to be less trusting of their neighbors, rather than the other way around.

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

   90%