Parallel Reasoning

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Parallel Reasoning

by binit » Sun Jun 14, 2015 9:45 pm
Government Official: Clearly, censorship exists if we, as citizens, are not allowed to communicate what we are ready to communicate at our own expense or if other citizens are not permitted access to our communications at their own expense. Public unwillingness to provide funds for certain kinds of scientific, scholarly, or artistic activities cannot, therefore, be described as censorship.

The flawed reasoning in the government official's argument is most parallel to that in which one of the following?
A. All actions that cause unnecessary harm to others are unjust; so if a just action causes harm to others, that action must be necessary.
B. Since there is more to good manners than simply using polite forms of address, it is not possible to say on first meeting a person whether or not that person has good manners.
C. Acrophobia, usually defined as a morbid fear of heights, can also mean a morbid fear of sharp objects. Since both fears have the same name, they undoubtedly have the same origin.
D. There is no doubt that a deed is heroic if the doer risks his or her own life to benefit another person. Thus an action is not heroic if the only thing it endangers is the reputation of the doer.
E. Perception of beauty in an object is determined by past and present influences on the mind of the beholder. Thus no object can be called beautiful, since not everyone will see beauty in it.

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by talaangoshtari » Mon Jun 15, 2015 5:47 am
If we are not alowed to communicate what we are ready to communicate
OR
If other citizens are not permitted access to our communications at their own expense
=>censorship exists

Public unwillingness to provide fund => censorship does not exist
In other words,
The flaw in reasoning is:
p => q
then
~p => ~q

Answer choice D:
if the doer risks his or her own life to benefit another person => a deed is heroic,
if the doer does not risk his or her own life because it endagers the reputation of doer => an action is not heroic

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by talaangoshtari » Mon Jun 15, 2015 6:10 am
Here is a similar problem for practice...
https://www.beatthegmat.com/flawed-reaso ... 77295.html