Logical Reasoning

PT155 · S2 · Q8 If a garden does not receive

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If a garden does not receive plenty of water and sunlight and is not planted in rich soil, then it will not be productive.

Conclusion

Patricia s garden will be productive

Evidence

Plenty of water/sun and → Productive Planted in rich soil

Patricia's garden has rich soil and has plenty of water/sun.

Evaluate

This is a classic, Necessary vs. Sufficient, the most commonly recurring of all the Famous Flaws. It happens when an author presents a conditional rule, such as X → Y

and then argues illegally in Backwards or Opposite fashion: backwards: A is Y. Thus A is X. opposite: A is ~X. Thus A is ~Y

Here, the author argued in opposite fashion. She gave us a conditional: ~X and ~Y → ~Z

And then she argued in opposite form, the garden X and Y. Thus, the garden will be Z.

This, of course, doesn't have to be true. Water/sunlight/rich soil might be necessary conditions, but their presence doesn't guarantee a productive garden.

A productive garden might require other things as well, such as seeds, non-freezing temperatures, a lack of garden rodents, etc.

Goal

Look for an answer descriptively calling out the Necessary vs. Sufficient confusion, an answer descriptively calling out the author's assumption that , or an answer raising the potential objection that .

8.

The reasoning in the argument is flawed in that the argument

  1. fails to specify adequately the

    Never a Flaw

    There's never been a correct answer that demands a specific measurement or quantity or definition, or forces us to name specifically who our sources are. We know what "ideal" means = best possible.

    3% picked this

  2. infers a cause from a

    Wrong Flaw

    This refers to the famous Causal Flaw, but there's no correlation in the evidence. A correlation would sound like "gardens that don't get plenty of water and sunlight and aren't planted in rich soil are less likely than those who do to be productive".

    4% picked this

  3. confuses a cause with its

    Never Correct / Wrong Flaw

    This also refers to Causal Flaws, but this answer is never correct. We can suggest to an author that they have possibly become too convinced of one causal possibility, where others exist ("fails to consider that a given causal relationship may be occurring in reverse"), but we are never allowed to act like we know the "right" version of causality. Otherwise, we'd be duplicating the author's flaw.

    2% picked this

  4. Correct

    takes a set of necessary

    Why this is right

    Any time we see the Necessary vs. Sufficient answer choice, we can just ask ourselves, "Was there conditional logic in the argument?" If so, there's a 90% or better chance that's the right answer. If not, there's a 0% chance it's the right answer. A productive garden requires plenty of water and sunlight and rich soil. Meanwhile, this author acts like since we know that Patricia has met those three requirements that her garden therefore will be productive. So the author is acting like those three requirements are sufficient to guarantee a productive garden.

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

    90% picked this

  5. relies on a sample that

    Wrong Flaw

    This refers to the famous Sampling flaw, in which we're nervous about an author relying on a sample because it's too small, unrepresentative, or self-selecting.

    0% picked this

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