Self-study
Some philosophers explain visual perception by suggesting that when we visually perceive an object, a mental image of that object forms in our mind. ████████ ████ ██████████ ██████ ██ ████████ █████ ██ █████ ███████ ██ █████ ████ ████████ ██████████ ███ █████ ██████ ██████ ██████ ████ █████ ██ ████ ███████ ████ ███ █████ ████ ████ █ ██████ █████ ██ ████ ██████ ██████ ███ ██ ███ ███ ████ ██ ████████ ███████ ██ ███████
Method of Reasoning
The argument proceeds by discrediting a viewpoint (a particular explanation of visual perception). It does this by arguing that, if the viewpoint were true, an infinite recursion would also have to be true (an inner self would see an image, which would require another inner self seeing the image, which would require another inner self seeing the image, etc.).
14.
Which one of the following █████████ ██ ████ ███████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████
a
According to some ██████████ ████ ██ ███ ███████ █████████ ███ ██ ██████ ████ ██ █ ██████ ██████ █████ ██ ██████████████ ████████ █████████████ ██████ ██ ███ ████████ █████████ ███ ██ ██ █████ ████ █████ █████ ██ ██ ████████ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████████ ███ ████ ██ ██████ █████████ █████ ███ ████████████ ████████ ████ ██████ █████ ████ ██████ ███ ██████ ██ ██████████████
Mismatched premises. (A) proceeds by discrediting the viewpoint that Indo-European is the earliest language. It does this by highlighting direct evidence of earlier languages. The stimulus, however, discredits a viewpoint because it is infinitely recursive, so (A) doesn’t match.
b
The claim that ███ ██████████ ██████ ██ ████████ ██ ████ ██ ██ ██████ ████ ███ ███ █████████ ████ ██████ ██ ████████ ███ █████ ███ ██ ████████ ██████ ██ ████████ ███ ██ █████ ███████ ███████ ████ ███ ███ █████████ █████ ███ ████ ██████ ███ ██ ████ ██ ███ ████ █████
Mismatched premises. (B) proceeds by discrediting the viewpoint that a theory is adequate if it agrees with all current empirical data. It discredits this viewpoint because it would mean there are an infinite number of correct theories, which cannot be true. This is not the same thing as a viewpoint being infinitely recursive, however, so (B) doesn’t match.
c
Some historians claim ████ ██ ██████ ██ ████ █████████ ████ ██ ██████ ███ ██████ █ ██████ ███ █████ ██ ██████ █ █████████ ██████ ████ ████████ ███ █████ ███ ██ ████ ████ █████ ████ █████ ██████ █████ ████ █ █████████ ██████ ██████████ ███ █████ ███ ████ █████████ ██████ █████ ████ ████ █ █████████ ███████ ███ ██ ███ ███████ ████ █████ ████ ██ ███████ ███████████ ███ ███████████ █████ ████ ██ ██████
The argument proceeds by discrediting a viewpoint (the view that no theory is ever truly new). It does this by arguing that, if the viewpoint were true, an infinite recursion would also have to be true (a “new” theory would have a theory it is based on, and this theory would have a theory it is based on, and this theory would have a theory it is based on, etc.).
d
Some engineers define █ ███████████ ██████████ ██ ████ ████ ██ ███ █████████ ████ ████████ ███ ████ ██ ███ ██████████ ████ ██████████ ██ ████████████ ████████ ███████ ██ ██████ ███ ██████████ ████ ███ ██████████ ██████ ████ ███ ████ ███ ████████ ██████ ██ ███████ ██ ███████
Mismatched premises. (D) proceeds by discrediting the viewpoint that a structure’s foundation is part of the structure. It discredits this viewpoint because it entails an absurd conclusion: that the foundation has no support. It makes no mention of this viewpoint being infinitely recursive, however, so (D) doesn’t match.
e
Some people claim ████ ███ █████ ███████ ███ ███ ███████ ██ ███████████ █████ ███ ████ █████████ █████████ ███ ███████ ██████████ ██ █████ ██ ███ ██████ ████████ ████████████ ██████████ ███ ██████ ███ ████████ ████ ███████ ████████████ █████ █████████ ██ ███████████ ██ ███████ ████ ███ ███████ ██ ██████████ ███ ███ ███ █████ ██ ███ ██████
Mismatched premises. (E) proceeds by discrediting the viewpoint that the library of Alexandria was the first library. It does this by providing direct evidence of earlier libraries. The stimulus, however, discredits a viewpoint because it is infinitely recursive, so (E) doesn’t match.