Self-study
Dana intentionally watered the plant every other day. ███ █████ ███ █████ ███ █ ██████████ ███ ██████ ███ █████ ███ ████████ ████████ ██████ ███ ██████ █████████ ████ █████████████ ██████ ███ ██████
Method of Reasoning
The argument gives us the outcome of someone’s action (killing a plant by overwatering it) and then concludes that they intended to produce that outcome.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The argument is flawed because it ascribes intent to something that might have been an accident. For example, if someone knocks over a vase and breaks it, we can’t conclude they did it on purpose.
7.
Which one of the following █████████ ████████ █ ██████ ███████ ██ █████████ ████ ███████ ██ ███ ██████ ███████ ██ █████████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████
a
Jack stole $10 ████ █████ ███ ███ ██ ██ █ █████ ███ ███ ████████ ████ ██ █████ █████████ ████ ██████ █████ ████ ████ ██████
Wrong flaw. Winning a bet with stolen money doesn’t increase the amount stolen, but (A) doesn’t mention intent at all. The stimulus, meanwhile, presents the outcome of someone’s action and concludes they intended to produce that outcome, so (A) doesn’t match.
b
Celeste knows that ██████ ██ █████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ████ ███ ████ ████ ██ ██ █████ ████████ █████████ ███████ ██████ ████ ████ ██████ ██ █████ ██ █████ ████████
Wrong flaw. (B) tells us that a person knows two pieces of information that can support a valid inference, but we don’t know whether they are capable of drawing that inference. The stimulus, meanwhile, presents the outcome of someone’s action and concludes they intended to produce that outcome, so (B) doesn’t match.
c
The restaurant owner ███████ ██ ████ ██ ████ ███ ███ ████████████ █████ ████ ████████ ████████████ █████ ███████ ████ ████ ███ ███ ████████ █████ █████████ ███ ██████████ █████ ███████ ██ ██████████ ██████
(C) presents the outcome of someone’s action (disappointing Jerry) and then incorrectly concludes that they intended to produce that outcome. The stimulus also presents the outcome of someone’s action and concludes that they intended to produce that outcome, so (C) matches.
d
The heavy rain ██████ ███ ███ ██ ██████ ███ ███ ████████ ██ ███ ███ ██████ ███ ██████ ██████████ ██ ██ ████████ █████████ ███ █████ ████ ██████ ███ ████████ ██ ███ ███████
No flaw. If the rain broke the dam, and the broken dam flooded the fields, then the rain caused the flooded fields. We want an answer choice that concludes someone did something on purpose, so (D) doesn’t match.
e
The power plant ██████ ███ █████ ████████████ ███ ████████ ██████ ███ █████ ███████████ ██ ███████████ ███ ███ ████████ ██ █████ █████████ ███ █████ █████ ██ ███████████ ███ ███ ████████ ██ █████
No flaw. If the power plant raised the water temperature, and the raised temperature caused a decrease in fish, then the power plant caused a decrease in fish. We want an answer choice that concludes someone did something on purpose, so (E) doesn’t match.