Self-study
Conclusion Perception cannot be a relationship between a conscious being and a material object that causes that being to have beliefs about that object. ███ █████ ███ ████ █████████████ ████████ ███████ █████ █████ ██ ████ ████████
Method of Reasoning
This argument makes a case for why a word (“perception”) can’t be defined a certain way (as “a relationship between a conscious being and a material object that causes that being to have beliefs about that object”) by stating that the definition of the word would share characteristics with an antonym of that word (“imperceptible”).
Identify and Describe Flaw
Just because someone gives a word a definition that shares characteristics with an antonym of that word, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the definition is wrong. It’s possible for two things that are opposites to share similarities.
23.
Which one of the following ██ ████ ███████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ █████████ ██ ███ ██████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████
a
Art cannot be ██ ████████ ███████ ██ ███████ ████ ███ ███████ ███████ ██ ███████ ██ █████████ ████████ ██ ███ █████████ ███ ██ █████ ████ █████████ █████████ ██ █████████ ████ ███ ███ ████
(A) makes the case for why a word (“art”) can’t be defined a certain way (as “an artifact created by someone with the express purpose of causing an aesthetic reaction in its audience”) by stating that the definition of the word would share characteristics with something that’s the opposite of that word (something that’s “not art”). This commits the same flaw as the stimulus because it’s possible for two things that are opposite of each other to share similarities.
b
Liberty cannot be ███ ██████████ ██ █████ ██████ ███ ██ ███████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ███ ███████ ███ ██ ██████ ████ ███ █████ ██ ██ ████ ██████ ████ ███ ██ ███████ ███
Wrong flaw. (B) says that liberty can’t be defined as people not stopping you from doing what you’d like to do because it’s inevitable that some people will try to stop you from doing what you’d like to do. (B) errs because some people trying to stop you from doing what you’d like to do doesn’t contradict the idea of liberty being people not stopping you from doing what you’d like to do. Meanwhile, the stimulus is about two things that are opposite, which (B) never addresses.
c
Preparation cannot be ██████ ████████ ██████ ██████████ █████ ███ ███████ ████████ ██████ ████ ██████ ███ █████ ███ ████████ ██ ██████ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ███████████ ████ █████
Wrong flaw. (C) says preparation can’t be taking action to prevent problems before they arise because some problems aren’t preventable. However, (C) errs because certain problems being unpreventable doesn’t nullify the concept of trying to stop some problems before they arise. Meanwhile, the stimulus erroneously argues that two opposites can’t share similarities, which isn’t mirrored in (C).
d
Happiness cannot be ███ █████ ██ ████ ██ █████ ████████ ████ █████████████ ███ ██████████████ ████████████ ████ █████ ███ ██ ██████ ██████ ███████ ████ ███ ████████ ██████████████
Wrong flaw. (D) erroneously argues that happiness can’t be something (the idea of pleasure predominating pain) because we can’t compare the elements (pain and pleasure) that make up that thing. Meanwhile, the stimulus argues that things that are opposites can’t share similarities, which (D) doesn’t address.
e
Physics cannot be ███ ███████ ████ ████████████ ███ ████████ ██████████ ██ ███████ ███ █████ ██████ ███ ███████ ███ ███ ████████ ██████████ ██████ ██ ██████████ ██ ██████ ███████
Wrong flaw. (E) argues that physics can’t be about the investigation of the ultimate principles of nature simply because humans can’t understand the ultimate principles of nature. This is flawed because humans being unable to understand something doesn’t mean that thing can’t exist. However, the stimulus makes the case that opposites can’t share similarities and that’s not reflected in (E).