Self-study
Astronomer: I have asserted that our solar system does not contain enough meteoroids and other cosmic debris to have caused the extensive cratering on the far side of the moon. ██ █████████ ████ ██████████ ██████ ██ ███████████ ███ ███████ ██ ████ ███████ █████ ████████ ██ ██████ █████████████ ████ ████ ██████ █████ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ████████
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that his own thesis is correct. This is based on the fact that opponents of the thesis have failed to demonstrate that the thesis is false.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author assumes that failure to prove a claim false implies that the claim is true. This overlooks the possibility that a claim can still be false, even if no one has yet proven that it is false.
26.
The reasoning in the astronomer's ████████ ██ ██████ ███████ ████ ████████
a
criticizes the astronomer's █████████ ██████ ████ █████ █████████
The author does not attack the character, background, or behavior of the opponents. The premise merely points out that the opponents have not proven the thesis false.
b
infers the truth ██ ███ ████████████ ██████ ████ ███ ████ █████ ████ ██ ███ ███ ████ ██████ █████
The author infers the truth of the thesis from the claim that the opponents haven’t proven the thesis false. This is a flaw because the thesis can still be false even if no one has proven it false.
c
ignores the possibility ████ ███████████ ████████████ ███ █████ ███ ███ █████████
The author’s thesis is that meteors and other cosmic debris from our solar system did not cause the cratering on the moon. The author is open to other explanations; he didn’t conclude that there is one particular explanation for the craters.
d
presumes that the ████████████ ██████ ██████ ███ ██ ███████ ██ ████████ ██████████ ███ █████████
The author does not assume that the thesis shouldn’t be subject to criticism. The author never asserts that the opponents should not have tried to criticize the thesis.
e
fails to precisely ██████ ███ ███ ████ ████████████
Failure to define a word is not a flaw. Words can simply take on their ordinary dictionary definitions. Here, “meteoroids” means something like space rocks.