Logical Reasoning

PT9 · S2 · Q19 A university should not be entitled

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A university should not be entitled to patent the inventions of its faculty members.

Conclusion (should)

A university should not be entitled to patent the inventions of its faculty members.

Evidence

Universities should encourage the free flow of ideas.

A university that retains the right to patent the inventions of its faculty members has a motive to suppress information about a potentially valuable discovery until the patent is secured.

Suppressing such information is incompatible with a university’s obligation to promote the free flow of ideas.

Evaluate

It feels pretty tricky to argue with this logic.

If universities are supposed to encourage free flow of ideas, then they shouldn't do something that would suppress information.

GIVEN THAT a university shouldn't be suppressing info about a valuable discovery until the patent has been secured,

HOW CAN WE ARGUE THAT a university should be entitled to patent inventions from faculty members?

Maybe we could say that the inventions faculty members come up with won't involve any valuable discoveries. Maybe we could say that since universities pay for the salaries and facilities that make these inventions possible, they should be entitled to patent them.

Goal

Tough to know what we're looking for. But if we negate the correct answer, it will give us a way to argue that universities should be entitled to patent inventions.

19.

Which one of the following is an assumption that the argument makes?

  1. Universities are the only institutions

    Too Strong: the only

    This is a classic "only thing mentioned = only thing" trap answer. Universities were the only entity mentioned whose obliged to guarantee intellectual freedom, but that doesn't mean the author is assuming they're the only entity to which that description applies. When we say "black lives matter" we're not assuming "those are the only type of lives that matter".

    1% picked this

  2. Most inventions by university faculty

    Too Strong: most

    The word "most" is famously wrong on Necessary Assumption 98% of the time we see it. Who cares if 49% vs. 51% of inventions are profitable? This argument wouldn't be harmed at all by the 49% number.

    3% picked this

  3. Publication of reports on research

    Too Strong

    Too Strong: the only Out of Scope: publication of reports The argument never discusses publication of reports on research, nor does it ever make an extreme assumption that there's only one way to disseminate info about new discoveries.

    9% picked this

  4. Correct

    Universities that have a motive

    Why this is right

    If we negate this, it's saying universities who have a motive to suppress information will never act on that motive. That helps us argue that universities SHOULD get patent rights to their faculty's inventions. The author might object, "but the university will have a motive to suppress information and hinder the free flow of ideas", and this answer's negation would respond, "Yeah, they'll have a motive. But they'll never act on that motive. They never will actually suppress information about a valuable discovery." Sally may have a motive to kill her husband, once he named her the beneficiary of his life insurance policy, but that doesn't mean she'll ever act on that motive.

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

    76% picked this

  5. If the inventions of a

    Too Strong

    The author doesn't have to believe that in every single case that a university doesn't patent an invention, the faculty member will. If there are times where nobody patents the invention or some third party does, that wouldn't hurt the argument in any way.

    11% picked this

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