Self-study
Pediatrician: Support Swollen tonsils give rise to breathing problems during sleep, and Support the surgical removal of children's swollen tonsils has been shown to alleviate sleep disturbances. ██ ████████ ██████████ ███████ ██████ ████████ ████ ██████ ████ ██████ ████ ███ ████████ ██ ███ ██████████ ███ █████████ ████████ ██████ ██████
Summarize Argument
The pediatrician concludes that removing children’s tonsils before they swell will prevent all breathing problems during sleep. She supports this by saying that swollen tonsils cause breathing problems during sleep, and removing them alleviates sleep disturbances.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The pediatrician assumes that swollen tonsils are the only cause of breathing problems during sleep, ignoring other possible causes like asthma or allergies. If these other issues are involved, removing tonsils might not ensure that children don’t experience any breathing problems during sleep.
24.
The pediatrician's argument is most ██████████ ██ ███ █████████ ████ ██
a
relies on an █████████████ ██████ ██ █████████
The pediatrician doesn’t rely on an appeal to authority at all. She notes that removing tonsils “has been shown” to alleviate sleep issues, but we don’t know that this is an appeal to authority and we certainly can’t assume that it’s an inappropriate one.
b
relies on an ██████████ ████ ██ ██████████ ██ ████████ ████ ███ ██████████ ██ ████
This is the cookie-cutter flaw of circular reasoning, where the argument assumes what it sets out to prove. The pediatrician doesn't make this mistake. She provides distinct premises to support her conclusion.
c
infers from the ████ ████ ██ ██████ ███ █ ███████ ██████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ ████████ ██ ███████ ████ ██████
The pediatrician states that tonsil removal alleviates breathing issues during sleep, but she doesn't conclude that tonsil removal is intended to alleviate these issues. Instead, she concludes that it will alleviate all breathing problems during sleep.
d
fails to consider ███ ███████████ ████ █████ ███ ██ █████ ███████ ███████ ███ ██████████ ████████ █ ███████ ███████
The pediatrician doesn’t assume that alleviating breathing issues during sleep is the only reason to remove children’s tonsils. Instead, she assumes that swollen tonsils are the only cause of these breathing issues.
e
fails to consider ███ ███████████ ████ ████ █████████ ████████ ██████ █████ ███ ██ ██████ ██ █████████ █████ ████ ███████ ███████
The pediatrician assumes that swollen tonsils are the only cause of the breathing problems, without considering other potential causes like allergies or asthma. If there are other causes, tonsil removal might not ensure that children don’t experience any breathing problems.