Logical Reasoning

PT159 · S3 · Q24 Principle: An author of an article that has appeared in a magazine

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Principle: An author of an article that has appeared in a magazine should be allowed to respond in that magazine to harsh criticism of the article if the criticism was published in the same magazine, or, alternatively, if the criticism was published in another magazine and is unfair.

Principle

criticism of article appears in mag where orig published author of orig or → article should be criticism appears in another able to respond magazine and is unfair in mag where criticized

Application

McFinton should be allowed to publish a response in Speculator's Digest to Wallace's most recent article, because Wallace's article harshly criticizes McFinton's essay on self-deception.

Evaluate

The way that all these Principle + Application questions work is that the Application concludes the right side of the principle, but it fails to establish the trigger of the principle.

The application is concluding that McF should be able to respond in Spec Digest to criticism of his article.

But we need to know a couple things: 1. Spec Digest is where Wallace's criticism was published and then either 2a. McF's orig article was in Spec Digest or 2b. Wallace's criticism is unfair

If the criticism is unfair, it doesn't matter where McF's article is published.

If McF's article was orig published in Spec Digest, it doesn't matter whether Wallace's criticism is fair or unfair.

For the principle to license a response in Speculator's Digest, McFinton's original essay must have appeared in Speculator's Digest (so that "that magazine" = Speculator's Digest). Then either Wallace's criticism must also have appeared in Speculator's Digest (condition a), or it must have appeared elsewhere and be unfair (condition b).

Goal

Find an answer that pins down both: McFinton's essay was in Speculator's Digest, and Wallace's criticism was also in Speculator's Digest (or was elsewhere and unfair).

24.

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

  1. McFinton's essay on self-deception appeared

    Bad Trigger Match

    This tells us McFinton's essay appeared in Speculator's Digest as well as other magazines, but it says nothing about where Wallace's criticism appeared. Without knowing whether Wallace's article was in Speculator's Digest or was elsewhere and unfair the principle isn't fully triggered.

    5% picked this

  2. Wallace's most recent article was

    Bad Trigger Match

    This tells us where Wallace's article appeared (Speculator's Digest, among others), but it does not tell us where McFinton's original essay appeared. The principle only gives McFinton the right to respond in the magazine where McFinton's own essay was published. We don't know whether that magazine was Speculator's Digest.

    6% picked this

  3. McFinton's essay on self-deception appeared

    Bad Trigger Match

    This places McFinton's essay only in Speculator's Digest. Yay. But we still need to know whether Wallace's critique also appeared in Spec Digest or whether it appeared elsewhere and was unfair.

    4% picked this

  4. Correct

    Both McFinton's essay on self-deception

    Why this is right

    This gives us the two things we need to know. McFinton's essay was published in Speculator's Digest, so that is where the principle says McF can respond to criticism. And Wallace's harshly critical article was also published in Speculator's Digest — meaning the criticism appeared in the same magazine as the original article. (It doesn't matter whether the criticism was unfair, if the criticism appeared in the same magazine as the original article.)

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

    66% picked this

  5. Wallace's most recent article appeared

    Bad Trigger Match

    This places Wallace's article in Speculator's Digest and adds that it was unfair, but it tells us nothing about where McFinton's original essay appeared. If McFinton's essay never appeared in Speculator's Digest, the principle gives McFinton no right to respond there. It only allows the author of an article in a magazine to respond in that magazine to harsh criticism of the article.

    19% picked this

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