- PowerScore Staff
- Posts: 8950
- Joined: Feb 02, 2011
- Fri Apr 15, 2016 3:15 pm
#23136
Complete Question Explanation
Flaw in the reasoning—SN. The correct answer choice is (B)
The stimulus lays down the following facts in a necessary-sufficient format: specialized farms existed only when there are large commercial markets and urban populations:
Answer choice (A) The stimulus does not generalize from an observed sample to a larger population in this manner. The problem involves erroneous sufficient-necessary reasoning, not improper generalization.
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. Since this is the only answer choice that uses a conditional term—"necessary"—we should quickly recognize that it deserves close consideration. When we break down this answer choice, we can see that it is accurate: The argument erroneously takes the nonexistence of something (the specialized farms), and concluding that a necessary precondition for such farms (urban population) did not exist. Indeed, errors involving sufficient-necessary reasoning can be identified in a multitude of ways, some general and some more specific.
Answer choice (C) The argument does not equivocate with respect to a specific term. There is no indication that the meaning of a word or phrase is being interpreted in different ways to support the argument.
Answer choice (D) The argument does not erroneously make a causal claim based on evidence of correlation. The argument never states that urban populations cause specialized farms or vice versa, only that the former is necessary to the existence of the latter.
Answer choice (E) The argument does not make a circular argument. Its conclusion is not simply a restatement of its premises because the conclusion is actually a misstatement of its first premise.
Flaw in the reasoning—SN. The correct answer choice is (B)
The stimulus lays down the following facts in a necessary-sufficient format: specialized farms existed only when there are large commercial markets and urban populations:
- Specialized farms
Urban population
- Specialized farms Urban population (this is a mistaken negation)
Answer choice (A) The stimulus does not generalize from an observed sample to a larger population in this manner. The problem involves erroneous sufficient-necessary reasoning, not improper generalization.
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. Since this is the only answer choice that uses a conditional term—"necessary"—we should quickly recognize that it deserves close consideration. When we break down this answer choice, we can see that it is accurate: The argument erroneously takes the nonexistence of something (the specialized farms), and concluding that a necessary precondition for such farms (urban population) did not exist. Indeed, errors involving sufficient-necessary reasoning can be identified in a multitude of ways, some general and some more specific.
Answer choice (C) The argument does not equivocate with respect to a specific term. There is no indication that the meaning of a word or phrase is being interpreted in different ways to support the argument.
Answer choice (D) The argument does not erroneously make a causal claim based on evidence of correlation. The argument never states that urban populations cause specialized farms or vice versa, only that the former is necessary to the existence of the latter.
Answer choice (E) The argument does not make a circular argument. Its conclusion is not simply a restatement of its premises because the conclusion is actually a misstatement of its first premise.
