Self-study
The editor of a magazine has pointed out several errors of spelling and grammar committed on a recent TV program. ███ ███ ███ ██████ ██ ███████ ██ ████ ████████ ██ ████ ████████ ███████ ██████ ████ ████ █████ ██ ███ ███ █████████
Method of Reasoning
Because a magazine has at times made spelling and grammar errors, this argument concludes that the magazine’s editor cannot be trusted to pass judgement on spelling and grammar errors committed on a TV program.
Identify and Describe Flaw
A person can judge others’ mistakes even if she herself has made or overlooked similar mistakes! In fact, if the editor has learned from and studied her magazine’s past errors, she might be a very good judge of the TV program’s mistakes.
1.
The flawed reasoning in the ████████ █████ ██ ████ ███████ ██ ████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ ██████████
a
Your newspaper cannot ██ ███████ ████ ███ ███████████ ██ █████████ ███ ██████ ██ ███ ████████ ███ ██████████ ███ ███████████ █████
Wrong flaw. Ethics generally have nothing to do with spelling, so this argument’s premise isn’t very related to its conclusion. That’s not the flaw from the stimulus, though, where a person is deemed unable to judge an error merely because that person has committed or overlooked the same error in the past.
b
Your news program ██████ ██ ███████ ██ █████ ███ ██████ █████████ ██ ███████ ███ ██████████ ████████ ████████████ ██ ██████ ███ █████████ ██████████
Because a news program has at times discriminated in its hiring and promotion decisions, this argument concludes that the program cannot be trusted to pass judgement on a different entity’s hiring practices. Like the stimulus, this ignores the fact that a person can judge others’ mistakes even if she herself has made or overlooked similar mistakes!
c
Your regulatory agency ██████ ███████ ███ ███████ ██ ███████ ███████ ██ ██ ███████ █████ ██ ████████████████ ███████
Wrong flaw. Even if selling a product is allowed under one clause, that doesn’t mean the product must be safe or can’t be condemned by an agency. That’s not the flaw from the stimulus, though, where a person is deemed unable to judge an error merely because that person has committed or overlooked the same error in the past.
d
Your coach cannot ██ ███████ ██ █████ ███ ████████ ██████████ ██ ████████ █ █████████ ███████████ ████ ████ █ ██████████ ████████
Wrong flaw. As far as we’re told, accepting a lucrative promotional deal has nothing to do with judging swimming practices, so this argument’s premise isn’t very related to its conclusion. That’s not the flaw from the stimulus, though, where a person is deemed unable to judge an error merely because that person has committed or overlooked the same error in the past.
e
Your teen magazine ██████ ███ ███ ████ ███████ ██ ████████ ██████████ ██████ ████ ████████ ████ ███████ ███████ ██ ███ ██████████ ███ ████ ██████ █████████
Wrong flaw. This argument fails to establish that running the feature would alienate high schoolers, and also overlooks the possibility that the magazine might have interests that supersede its revenue. That’s not the flaw from the stimulus, though, where a person is deemed unable to judge an error merely because that person has committed or overlooked the same error in the past.