Conditional Reasoning Diagramming Drill #6 and #11

[argumentace]

Questions on P. 194-195

For questions #6 and #11 did I negate incorrectly?
#6 “ The strike will end only if management concedes a pay raise”
Correct Answer for Original Diagram:
SE MCPR
My answer:
noS MCPR
- I thought “end” was the same as saying to no, not, etc. (“no” = slash through S)

#11 “ Any decryption program can break this code”
Correct Answer for Original Diagram:
DP BC
My answer:
DP noC
-I thought break was the same as saying no to code. (“no” = slash through C)

[Dave Killoran]

To negate a conditional statement you essentially have to say that the necessary condition does not or is not required to happen. So you would never negate the sufficient, and instead in each case would say the necessary isn't needed.

So, "All As are Bs" would be negated by "All As are not necessarily Bs" (and or some variation of that).

Thanks!

[argumentace]

I appreciate the response, however, I’m still confused because for question #4 “ If the law does not pass, then wildlife will be endangered” the sufficient condition is negated:

notLP WE

[Dave Killoran]

Apologies, I misunderstood your question. I thought you were asking about logical negation, and advanced concept we use on conditional statements in later chapters. Instead I see you simply are referring to direct diagramming and where to place the negative. The process I describe above is for logically negating the meaning of a statement, so wait to use that until you get to Assumptions

In the meantime, to diagram #6, the meaning of your diagram and ours is the same. "No strike" is the same as "Strike will end," roughly. You'll see we tend not to use slashes where we can avoid it since the human mind works better with positives, but it's ok to diagram it how you want.

In #11, I think you understand it, although I'm not sure "no code" is really that close to "break the code," mainly because the code is still there. That said, I get what you were doing and it's along the right lines. I wouldn't try to overinterpret meaning in these--it's a basic diagramming drill to get you started, and shouldn't require a whole lot of reinterpretation.

In #4, since we are taking about just diagramming, it's fine to have a negative sufficient condition.

Thanks!

[argumentace]

Thank you, this helps!!!