Self-study
Concerned citizen:.
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Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
The citizen concludes that the mayor is incorrect that the city can’t afford to restore city hall, which would strain the city’s limited budget. In support, the citizen explains that the building is the last link to the time of the city’s founding, and that preserving history helps to maintain respect for the city government. This supports the sub-conclusion that the city can’t afford not to restore city hall.
Identify and Describe Flaw
This is an “equivocation” flaw, where the same word is used in two different ways. The citizen rejects the mayor’s point about financial “affordability.” This is supported with an appeal to cultural or historic “affordability.”
17.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████████ █ ████ ██ ███ █████████ █████████ █████████
a
The argument is ██████ ██ █████████ ██████ ██ ████████
The citizen’s appeal to history isn’t solely emotional, because it also includes the claim that history helps to maintain the city’s authority, which is a more pragmatic consideration.
b
The argument ambiguously ████ ███ ████ █████████
The mayor’s claim that the city can’t “afford” the restoration refers to financial affordability. The citizen’s question of whether the city can “afford” not to restore the building refers instead to cultural or historic considerations, sidestepping the mayor’s point.
c
The argument inappropriately ███████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ███ ██████
The citizen doesn’t appeal to the mayor’s authority—especially because the argument is aimed at discrediting the mayor’s position!
d
The argument incorrectly ████████ ████ ███ ███████████ █████ ██ ██████████
The citizen accepts the mayor’s point that the restoration would be expensive, but there’s no reason to think that claim is incorrect.
e
The argument inappropriately ██████ ██ ███ █████████ ████████████ ██ █████ ████ ██ ██████████ ███ █████████
The citizen’s argument doesn’t rely on words such as “outdated” and “luxury” at all. Those words are part of the mayor’s argument, with which the citizen disagrees.