#13 - Philosopher: As many prominent physicists have suggested, energy is merely

[Luke Haqq]

Complete Question Explanation

Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (B).

Answer choice (A): The conclusion is limited to being a claim about physical objects, so the flaw isn't a failure to address things other than physical objects.

Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. To understand why (B) is correct, one can input material from the stimulus to give it traction: "It overlooks the possibility that something [mass] may lack a feature [the feature of being only a theoretical concept] even if it is composed purely of things [energy] that have that feature [being only a theoretical concept]." Mass could be more than only a theoretical concept, even if it is composed only of something that is purely a theoretical concept, namely, energy.

Answer choice (C): The philosopher isn't assuming that two things are different despite having no essential distinction. Rather, the philosopher is assuming that two things have the same feature (being a theoretical construct) because they have no essential distinction.

Answer choice (D): The stimulus discusses theoretical constructs, but it doesn't address any "features" of theoretical constructs. The stimulus tells us that mass, for example, is a theoretical construct, not a feature of such a construct. We could also say that being a theoretical concept is a feature of mass.

Answer choice (E): This might seem supported by the first sentence: "As many prominent physicists have suggested, energy is merely a theoretical construct." However, the first sentence is not claiming that it is because physicists say this that it must be true.

[alicechoi86@gmail.com]

I mistakenly chose (E) here, instead of the correct answer (B).

I zeroed in on the first sentence in this argument ("many prominent physicists have suggested, energy is merely a theoretical construct").
I thought (E) questions the validity of this first sentence by saying that it is a Flaw to assume that just b/c a suggestion was made by a physicist proves the truth of that suggestion. This Flaw would call into question the first sentence, which affects all the statements afterward that stem from that first suggestion by a physicist.

I get why (B) is correct now, since energy & mass both have the feature (of being "theoretical constructs"), but that doesn't mean physical objects which are composed purely of energy & mass has to also have the feature.

But I still can't figure out how to eliminate (E), and would love any thoughts on how to eliminate this answer choice. Thanks!

[Adam Tyson]

Good question, alicechoi86@gmail.com! E is a very attractive trap answer, in my opinion. The problem with it is that the author never suggests that the position taken in the first sentence is true BECAUSE many prominent physicists suggest it. The author is saying that it is true, AND that many prominent physicists have suggested it. The author is telling us that those physicists happen to be correct while not actually relying on them. We don't know why the author thinks their suggestion is correct, they just do!

E would be correct if the argument had instead said "because prominent physicists say that ..." or "many prominent physicists say it, so it must be true." Since that kind of claim was not made, answer E is just there to trick us. The real problem is a "part to whole" or Error of Composition" flaw, where the author says that because something is true about the parts of a thing, it must also be true of the thing itself.

[christinecwt]

Dear Team - may I know why Answer Choice D is incorrect? Many thanks!

[Robert Carroll]

christinecwt,

It doesn't seem possible to say what "feature of some theoretical constructs" is relevant here. In answer choice (D), to what feature does that refer? The answer is saying that the flaw in the stimulus is that some theoretical constructs may have features that others do not, but that the author thinks that those some theoretical constructs WITH that feature are representative of ALL theoretical constructs. But what feature? I don't see one. Thus, this answer choice is referring to an argument not made in the stimulus, and can't be right.

Robert Carroll

[christinecwt]

Thanks a lot Robert

[ShiraLL]

Can you outline how exactly to approach and unpack this premise and then the answer choices? Something about this one was really hard for my brain to comprehend and even understand the argument, which of course makes prephrasing and answering difficult

[atierney]

Yes, so for this one, because it's a flaw in the reasoning question, we are looking for a mistake in the argument. Now, presumably, the mistake is obvious enough to identify before being informed that this is what are being tasked with for the purposes, but if you haven't identified the flaw by the time you get the question stem, its always good to go back and reread the stimulus again to prephrase, which definitely helps answering these questions.

So, this particular argument is flawed because it's making an error in composition. The whole is not a mere replica of its parts. The whole is something more and, most times, something unique, as compared to its parts. Other examples of composition errors, as highlighted in your PowerScore book, include thinking that ones entire life is exciting because one goes to exciting parties (this one **almost** hit close to home), or in the opposite direction (known as an error of division, but principally the same idea), assuming that because America is the wealthiest country, every American is wealthy.

Here, the error is that because mass and energy are theoretical constructs, the thing which they constitute, physical objects, must also be theoretical constructs.

Once you have identified the relevant flaw, the next step is to simply match the answer choice that contains language describing the particular flaw. Here, this is answer choice C.

Let me know if you have further questions on this.