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Flaw in the reasoning

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by ranjithreddy.k9 » Thu Jun 02, 2011 6:37 pm
Alba: I don't intend to vote for Senator Frank in the next election. She is not a strong supporter of the war against crime.
Tam: But Senator Frank sponsored the latest anticrime law passed by the Senate.
Alba: If Senator Frank sponsored it, it can't be a very strong anticrime law.
Which of the following identifies the most serious logical flaw in Alba's reasoning?
(A) The facts she presents do not support her conclusion that Senator Frank is soft on crime.
(B) She assumes without proof that crime is the most important issue in the upcoming election.
(C) She argues in a circle, using an unsupported assertion to dismiss conflicting evidence.
(D) She attacks Senator Frank on personal grounds rather than on he merit as a political leader.
(E) In deciding not to vote for Senator Frank, she fails to consider issues other than crime.
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Source: — Critical Reasoning |

by vineeshp » Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:15 pm
(A) The facts she presents do not support her conclusion that Senator Frank is soft on crime. - She does not present any such facts.
(B) She assumes without proof that crime is the most important issue in the upcoming election. - It is the issue which she is concerned with.
(C) She argues in a circle, using an unsupported assertion to dismiss conflicting evidence. - I agree, she states that the latest law must be soft because he is not a strong supporter of crime. She does not prove so. Hence the answer?
(D) She attacks Senator Frank on personal grounds rather than on he merit as a political leader. - The issue is related only to war on crime.
(E) In deciding not to vote for Senator Frank, she fails to consider issues other than crime. - Irrelevant.
OA C
Vineesh,
Just telling you what I know and think. I am not the expert. :)
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by cans » Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:19 pm
IMO C
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by ranjithreddy.k9 » Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:36 pm
Yes ans is C.. But whats wrong with E ?
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by Frankenstein » Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:54 pm
ranjithreddy.k9 wrote:Yes ans is C.. But whats wrong with E ?
Hi,
'Issues other than crime' is out of scope.
Cheers!

Things are not what they appear to be... nor are they otherwise
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by vikram4689 » Thu Jun 02, 2011 9:20 pm
This is peculiar type where an unsupported assumptions is used to support a conclusion.... as rightly mentioned ans is C.


A - it does support but there is no evidence for her assumption.
B - irrelevant
C - Correct
D - irrelevant
E - irrelevant ( we are concerned only with the flaw she made and NOT with other issues)

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by itsmebharat » Fri Jun 03, 2011 12:07 am
IMO C , good explanation by @vikram
I am not an Expert, please feel free to suggest if there is an error.
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by [email protected] » Tue Feb 14, 2012 4:56 am
Alba: I don't intend to vote for Senator Frank in the next election. She is not a strong supporter of the war against crime.
Tam: But Senator Frank sponsored the latest anticrime law passed by the Senate.
Alba: If Senator Frank sponsored it, it can't be a very strong anticrime law.
Which of the following identifies the most serious logical flaw in Alba's reasoning?
(A) The facts she presents do not support her conclusion that Senator Frank is soft on crime.
(B) She assumes without proof that crime is the most important issue in the upcoming election.
(C) She argues in a circle, using an unsupported assertion to dismiss conflicting evidence.
(D) She attacks Senator Frank on personal grounds rather than on he merit as a political leader.
(E) In deciding not to vote for Senator Frank, she fails to consider issues other than crime.


OA is C. Alba makes 2 conclusions each of them without any premise and she goes in circular reasoning. Also counters Tam's evidence without any strong premise Hence C.

Marking option C was rather simple...
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