Logical Reasoning

PT153 · S2 · Q8 Analyst: When Johnson attacked his opponent

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Analyst: When Johnson attacked his opponent by quoting her out of context, his campaign defended this attack by claiming that the quote was even more politically damaging to her in context.

Conclusion

The people who run Johnson's campaign clearly don't believe that . (i.e. the people running Johnson's campaign think that quoting his opponent out of context is equally or more damaging)

Evidence

They continue to quote her out of context, even though they've had plenty of chances to say the quote in its proper context.

Evaluate / Goal

The argument is essentially,

if they keep quoting they don't think the opponent out → "in context" is more of context politically damaging

We need some answer that helps take us from "they keep using out of context" to .

8.

Which one of the following principles, if valid, most strongly supports the analyst's reasoning above?

  1. Correct

    In criticizing an opponent, political

    Why this is right

    If political campaigns will always pursue the most politically damaging attack, and Johnson's political campaign keeps pursuing a policy of quoting his opponent out of context, then apparently Johnson's political campaign believes that quoting his opponent out of context is the most politically damaging line of attack. Thus, this gives us strong support for the conclusion: Johnson's campaign clearly does not believe that quoting her in context is the more politically damaging version.

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

    81% picked this

  2. In criticizing an opponent, political

    Bad Conclusion Match

    Since Johnson's campaign keep using the technique of "quoting opponent out of context", then according to this rule, Johnson's campaign would not find it objectionable for the opponent's campaign to quote Johnson out of context. But who cares? We're not trying to decide whether Johnson's campaign would or wouldn't find it objectionable for their candidate to be quoted out of context. We're trying to decide whether Johnson's campaign believes or doesn't believe that quoting his opponent "in context" is more politically damaging.

    3% picked this

  3. In criticizing an opponent, political

    Bad Conclusion Match

    This principle allows us to say that Johnson's campaign, which keeps quoting his opponent out of context, is violating an expectation of voters. But who cares? We're not trying to support a conclusion that says, "Thus, those who run his campaign have defied one of the voters' expectations".

    6% picked this

  4. In criticizing an opponent, political

    Bad Conclusion Match

    According to this principle, since Johnson's campaign is continually quoting his opponent with her actual words (just not providing the context), Johnson's campaign will not be strongly criticized. But who cares? We're not trying to strengthen a conclusion that says, "Thus, those who run Johnson's campaign clearly will not be strongly criticized for this."

    5% picked this

  5. In criticizing an opponent, political

    Bad Premise Match

    This principle can only be triggered if we know whether or not quoting his opponent out of context vs. in context will leave Johnson open to effective counterattacks. The argument doesn't mention anything about that, so we have no idea.

    4% picked this

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