Logical Reasoning

PT157 · S3 · Q4 Principle: It is unethical for someone

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Principle: It is unethical for someone who has bought an item to return it to the store after getting all the use from it that he or she ever intended to get.

Principle

If someone buys an item, gets all of the use from it they intended to get, and returns it, then they are acting in an unethical way:

buy, use fully, and return → unethical

Evicence in Application

James bought an item and later returned it.

Conclusion in Application

The return was unethical.

Evaluate

Whenever we see this style of question with a Principle and Application, the application will conclude the right side of the Principle, but it will fail to fully establish the left side.

Were told that James bought a camera and then returned it after getting all the use from it he ever intended to get?

No. We know he bought it and returned it, but we're still missing that bold part.

Goal

Look for an answer indicating that James got all of the use from the camera that he intended.

4.

Which one of the following, if true, most justifies the above application of the principle?

  1. Before returning the camera, James

    Bad Trigger Match

    Using the camera "extensively" to record family members does not establish that James got all the use he intended from it. Maybe he also planned to use the camera to film his sister's upcoming play, but in testing it out on his family he decided he didn't like it and returned it.

    5% picked this

  2. Correct

    James bought the camera to

    Why this is right

    This ends up being our best available match for "got all the use from it that he ever intended". They don't use any explicit wording like that, but by signifying the reason he bought the camera, we come closer to knowing "what use did he intend for this camera". Since he bought the camera to avoid having to hire a videographer for an event and then returned it after the event, it looks a lot more like "he had one specific use case in mind, used it for that, then returned it".

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

    90% picked this

  3. James used the camera several

    Bad Trigger Match

    There's no language in here to suggest that he got all the use out of it that he intended. And in fact, there's stuff in here that makes it sound like he returned it for other reasons (parts of it were broken).

    2% picked this

  4. James returned the camera after

    Bad Trigger Match

    There's no language in here to suggest that he got all the use out of it that he intended. And in fact, there's stuff in here that makes it sound like he returned it for other reasons (he could get it cheaper elsewhere).

    1% picked this

  5. James used the camera in

    Bad Trigger Match

    This answer is cleverly worded but falls short. "Used the camera in the manner for which he bought it" is not the same as "got all the use from it that he ever intended to get." Consider someone who buys a camera to record an entire YouTube series. Recording one episode is using it "in the manner intended," but it is not getting all the intended use. The principle requires that the full scope of intended use be completed, not merely that the item was used for its intended purpose. James used the camera as intended but thought a different one would work better, which suggests that he planned to continue using a camera, meaning his intended use was not fulfilled.

    2% picked this

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