Self-study
Politician P: My opponent claims that the government is obligated to raise taxes to increase funding for schools and health care. ███████ ███████ █████ ██ ████████ ███████ ███ ███████ ███ ██████ ████ █████ ████ █████████ █████ ████ █████ ████ ██ ██████ ██████ ██ ████████ ██ ██████ █████████
Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
Politician P concludes that an opponent is wrong to say that the government is obligated to raise taxes to better fund school and health care. In support, P says that such a policy would upset taxpayers.
Identify and Describe Flaw
P concludes that the government is not obligated to take a particular action, because that action would upset people. This doesn’t address the opponent’s core claim that an obligation exists.
4.
Politician P's reasoning is questionable ███████ ██ ████████
a
presupposing that a █████ ██ ████████ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ██████ █████████ ██ █████████ █████ █████████ █████
P never mentions whether or not the opponent advocates for other unpopular views.
b
assuming that a █████ ██ █████ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ██████ █████████ ██ ██ ██ ████████████ █████████
P doesn’t talk at all about anyone’s character, and doesn’t attack the opponent’s character.
c
concluding that a ████ ██ █████ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ██████████████ █████ ████ ██ ███████████
P concludes that the opponent’s view about a government obligation to raise taxes is “mistaken,” meaning false, and as support only says that raising taxes would make people unhappy. This doesn’t actually address whether or not there’s an obligation.
d
appealing to wholly ██████████ ██████ ██ ███████ █████████ ████ ████ ███ ████ █████
P isn’t appealing to wholly irrelevant issues—taxpayers’ response to a tax policy change is still a relevant consideration, even if it doesn’t establish that the government has no obligation to better fund schools and health care.
e
insisting that an ██████████ ██████ ███████ ████████ ███ ████████ ████ ██ ██████
P isn’t insisting that an obligation exists. Instead, it’s the opposite: P’s opponent claims that an obligation exists, and P claims that the obligation does not exist.