#15- Almost all advances in genetic research give rise to

[Iam181]

Thank you James!

[SGD2021]

Hello,
If a sufficient condition does not occur, that does not necessarily mean that the necessary condition cannot occur, correct? If the sufficient condition does not occur, it is still possible that the necessary condition might occur? In this case, the reasoning behind the sentence in the original description of this problem: “Common sense dictates that if there is no genetic research there can be no ethical dilemmas which arise from advances in genetic research” just holds because of commonsense but we cannot always assume, like in this case, that if the sufficient condition does not occur, then the necessary condition will automatically not occur, correct?

Thank you!

[Adam Tyson]

You're correct that the absence of a sufficient condition does not prove the absence of a necessary condition, SGD2021, but the "common sense" statement in our explanation isn't based on a sufficient condition not occurring. It's a contrapositive! It's based on this unstated relationship:

Advances in Genetic Research Genetic Research

(If there are any advances in genetic research, then there must have been some genetic research)

It was unstated because it was self-evident, but when we say it aloud using conditional terms you can see that the commonsense statement in the explanation is logically valid.