#23 - Commentator: Human behavior cannot be fully understood

[ashutosh_73]

I wasn't sure from your comments which answer choice you selected. You mention "incomplete evidence," but I don't see an answer choice that quite fits that. There's answer choice (D), "It fails to indicate whether the speaker is aware of any evidence that could undermine the conclusion." That's not exactly about incomplete evidence, though, but rather about the commentator's awareness of contrary evidence.

Hi, I didn't understand why (D) is incorrect.
If ''Commentator' knows one possibility that can ruin his argument, then how can he say that his argument is sound?

For example, i say: Intelligent students score 98 in mathematics in unit tests, hence all students of my school are intelligent.

But i am also aware of the fact that: In the recent unit test, all students of my school cheated in the mathematics exam.
Wouldn't my conclusion be invalid?

[Dana D]

Hi Ashutosh,

Answer choice (D) has two main issues. The first is that it is not really a flaw - I might be aware that there is a way to weaken my argument but still believe I am correct and have a sound counter to that evidence. The second issue is that it is not the flaw in this argument.

Remember that for flaw questions, we always need an answer choice that both identifies a flaw and identifies what the flaw in the argument at hand is. In this scenario, even if the speaker added a sentence that said " I am not aware of any evidence that could undermine my conclusion", their conclusion is still flawed due to circular reasoning. Therefore, (D) cannot be the correct answer.