Logical Reasoning

PT155 · S4 · Q22 The universe as a whole

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The universe as a whole necessarily tends toward greater disorder, or entropy.

Evidence

The universe has a whole tends towards greater disorder.

Conclusion (it follows that)

The earth's biosphere is always tending towards greater disorder.

Evaluate

This is a Whole to Part flaw.

When we do Parallel Flaw, we remind ourselves to look out for the most common Famous Flaws: - Necessary vs. Sufficient - Part vs. Whole - Causal - Unproven vs. Proven False - Ad Hominem - Sampling

That way, when we read "The universe as a whole", it jumps out at us that this could be a Part vs. Whole flaw.

They never explicitly say , but that's understood to be common sense.

Goal

Premise: - the Whole has Property X Conclusion: - some Part of that Whole has Property X

22.

Which one of the following is most similar in its flawed reasoning to the argument above?

  1. Correct

    Wooded Lake is one of

    Why this is right

    Premise The system of lakes that Wooded Lake is a part of is one of the most beautiful systems in the world. Conclusion Wooded Lake is one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. How do we sort out the argument pieces? Claim 1. This follows from the fact that Claim 2. Claim 1 follows from Claim 2 (which is a fact). So claim 1 is the conclusion that follows logically from the factual premise of claim 2.

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

    47% picked this

  2. This has been the coldest

    Weak Conclusion Match

    Because this conclusion is moderately worded ("likely that"), it's not as objectionable as the original argument. Both the original and (A) were like, "From this fact alone we are sure!" Knowing that the whole of April was on average the coldest, it's fair to say that any given day was probably colder than you'd normally expect.

    23% picked this

  3. The manifest indicates that every

    No Part vs. Whole

    Both the premise and the conclusion are about "every deck on that cruise ship", so there isn't any switch being made from "the Whole has Trait X" to "a Part of that whole has Trait X". This argument makes this move: since every deck has some commercial cargo, every deck is devoted to commercial cargo If we tried to stretch that into Part vs. Whole, it would go from Part to Whole. The original argument goes from Whole to Part.

    23% picked this

  4. Although Hopper claims to have

    Bad Conclusion Match

    The conclusion here doesn't match the original argument at all. It's an either/or claim. There's a bit of a Part / Whole feel between Hopper and the crew he's a part of, but there's no Part vs. Whole flaw in thinking, "since every person on the crew was in the grain area at Time X, then Hopper (who is a member of the crew) was in the grain area at Time X." Every person on the crew is X isn't a fact about a Whole. It's a fact about every single Part. The crew is X is a fact about a Whole.

    5% picked this

  5. Two of the seven critical

    Part to Whole Reversal

    This argument goes from Part to Whole, but the original argument went from Whole to Part. Premise: - two of the assembly's parts are unsafe Conclusion: - the whole assembly is unsafe

    3% picked this

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