Thanks in advance.
The following appeared in an article in a consumer-electronics magazine:
"Company X's latest model of digital camera to be released next month, the TR12, is being promoted as the most portable, user-friendly digital camera available, and also an excellent bargain. It can be expected to live up to these claims, because Company X's previous model, the TR11, was universally lauded as setting the standard in these areas last year."
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument's logic and analyze the argument's underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument's conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound.
In this argument the author claims that the Company X's latest digital camera model TR12 can be the the most portable, user-friendly digital camera available and also an excellent bargain. The author's line of reasoning is that the Company X's previous model TR11 was universally lauded as setting the standard in these areas last year. Stated in this way the argument omits some important factors or considerations that are necessary to get a complete view of the described scenario. The argument does not provide any substantive evidence to support the conclusion from the given premises. Hence, the argument is weak, unconvincing and has several flaws.
First, the author claims that since TR11 model was successful, TR12 model will be successful. This is a weak and unsupported claim as the argument does not demonstrate any correlation between the TR11 and TR12 models. The author assumes that since TR11 was successful T12 will also be. However, the author fails to mention the reasons why TR11 was successful. It might be that TR11 had no competition when it was released and the technology used in TR11 was new. TR12 might be using the same technology with some additional features, which might not be attractive to the customers. Also promoting the features such as most portable and user-friendly digital camera available won't attract customers. Customers prefer a model with different technology rather than model with more user-friendly features. Clearly, the argument would have been more convincing if it had provided evidence supporting the claim.
Second, the author assumes that no other company is releasing a new model which is similar to TR12. If any other company releases a new model with similar or with superior technology and various features other than those in TR12 model, the TR12 model will not live up to its expectations. For example, company Y might be releasing a new model in next week that has better technology than the one present in TR12 and at a lower price than the price promoted for TR12. In this case company X does not meet the expectations and the sales of TR12 model might be less. The author weakens his argument by making assumptions and fails to provide any evidence to support the assumptions.
In summary, the argument is flawed because of the above mentioned reasons and therefore is weak and unconvincing to the reader. The argument would have been much stronger if the author had mentioned all the relevant facts to assess the situation under consideration. Without this information, the argument remains unsubstantiated and open to debate.
The following appeared in an article in a consumer-electronics magazine:
"Company X's latest model of digital camera to be released next month, the TR12, is being promoted as the most portable, user-friendly digital camera available, and also an excellent bargain. It can be expected to live up to these claims, because Company X's previous model, the TR11, was universally lauded as setting the standard in these areas last year."
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument's logic and analyze the argument's underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument's conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound.
In this argument the author claims that the Company X's latest digital camera model TR12 can be the the most portable, user-friendly digital camera available and also an excellent bargain. The author's line of reasoning is that the Company X's previous model TR11 was universally lauded as setting the standard in these areas last year. Stated in this way the argument omits some important factors or considerations that are necessary to get a complete view of the described scenario. The argument does not provide any substantive evidence to support the conclusion from the given premises. Hence, the argument is weak, unconvincing and has several flaws.
First, the author claims that since TR11 model was successful, TR12 model will be successful. This is a weak and unsupported claim as the argument does not demonstrate any correlation between the TR11 and TR12 models. The author assumes that since TR11 was successful T12 will also be. However, the author fails to mention the reasons why TR11 was successful. It might be that TR11 had no competition when it was released and the technology used in TR11 was new. TR12 might be using the same technology with some additional features, which might not be attractive to the customers. Also promoting the features such as most portable and user-friendly digital camera available won't attract customers. Customers prefer a model with different technology rather than model with more user-friendly features. Clearly, the argument would have been more convincing if it had provided evidence supporting the claim.
Second, the author assumes that no other company is releasing a new model which is similar to TR12. If any other company releases a new model with similar or with superior technology and various features other than those in TR12 model, the TR12 model will not live up to its expectations. For example, company Y might be releasing a new model in next week that has better technology than the one present in TR12 and at a lower price than the price promoted for TR12. In this case company X does not meet the expectations and the sales of TR12 model might be less. The author weakens his argument by making assumptions and fails to provide any evidence to support the assumptions.
In summary, the argument is flawed because of the above mentioned reasons and therefore is weak and unconvincing to the reader. The argument would have been much stronger if the author had mentioned all the relevant facts to assess the situation under consideration. Without this information, the argument remains unsubstantiated and open to debate.
