Self-study
Critic: Conclusion The contemporary novel is incapable of making important new contributions. ███ ████████ ██ ██████ ████████████ █████████████ ██████ ████ ████ █████████ ████████████ ██████ ██████ ████ ███ ██████ █████████████ ███ ████████████ ███████ ██████ ███ █████ ███ ██████████
Method of Reasoning
The argument proceeds by presenting specific members of a set (certain contemporary novels) that share a common trait (not making important new contributions). It then concludes that all members of the set must share the same trait.
Identify and Describe Flaw
This argument features a part-to-whole flaw. Just because certain members of a set have a trait does not mean that every member of the set will have that trait. For example, just because some cats are brown does not mean that all cats are brown.
18.
The flawed reasoning in the ████████ ████████ ██ ████ ███████ ██ ████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ ██████████
a
Since no government ███ ████ ████ ██ ████████ ██████ ██████████ ██ █████████ ████ ████████ ██ ██ ██████████ ███ ███ ██████████ ██ ███████ ███ ████████ ████████
(A) proceeds by presenting specific examples of a set (current governments) that share a common trait (being unable to regulate aspects of their economy). It then incorrectly concludes that all members of the set must share the same trait. The stimulus also concludes that all members of a set must share a trait because some members of the set have the trait, so (A) matches.
b
Because there has ████ ███████████ ████████ ██ ██████ █████ ██ ██████ ████████ ████ ██████████ ██ ██ ████ █ ██████ ██ ████ ██████ ██ ██████ █ █████████ ██████ ████████
Wrong flaw. (B) introduces a recent trend—progress in machine efficiency—and then reaches the absurd conclusion that perpetual motion will eventually be developed. This is flawed because the premise provides almost no support for this claim. The stimulus, meanwhile, concludes that all members of a set must share a trait because some members of the set have the trait, so (B) doesn’t match.
c
The essayist Macaulay ███ ██ ██████ ████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ████████ ███ ███ ████ █████████ ██████ ████ ███████ ███ ███ ███████ █████ ███ ██████ ██ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ███████
Wrong flaw. (C) presents a member of a set (popular old writers) who has a certain trait (being forgotten). It then incorrectly concludes that this trait applies to all members of an entirely new set (popular new writers). The stimulus, meanwhile, concludes that all members of a set must share a trait because some members of the same set have the trait, so (C) doesn’t match.
d
This politician has ███ ████ ███ █████████ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ███████ ██ ████████████ ███ ████ ████ ███ █████ ███ ███████ ██ ██████████
Wrong flaw. (D) Tells us that someone has not proposed any solutions for a certain problem, and then incorrectly concludes that this means she does not care about the problem. The stimulus, meanwhile, concludes that all members of a set must share a trait because some members of the set have the trait, so (D) doesn’t match.
e
In international commerce, ███ ████████████ ████ ███ ████ ██████ ███ ███████ ███ █████ ███ ██████████████ ████ █████ ████████████ ██████ ███████ ██ ███ █████████████ ██████
Wrong flaw. (E) tells us that something is best suited for success, and then incorrectly concludes that other things won’t be successful simply because they’re not the best. The stimulus, meanwhile, concludes that all members of a set must share a trait because some members of the set have the trait, so (E) doesn’t match.