Self-study
Mayor: A huge protest against plans to build a chemical plant in this town was held yesterday. ███ ██████████ █████ ████ ███ ███████ █████ █████ ██████ █████████ ███ ████ █████ ███ ██ ██████████ ████ ██ ███ ██████████ ████ █████ ████ ███████ ████ ████ ████ ██ ████ ██ ██ ████████ ██████████ ███ ███ █████████ ████ ███ ███████ █████ █████ ███ █████ ██ ██████ ████ ████ ████ ████
Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
The mayor claims that the city’s planned chemical plant cannot cause health problems because most of the protestors, who claim that the factory can cause health problems, were paid by developers concerned about property value.
Identify and Describe Flaw
This is an ad hominem argument because the mayor attacks the motives of the opposing side rather than engaging with the substance of the contested issue. The mayor fails to provide evidence that the plant cannot cause health problems, leaving the conclusion entirely unsupported. The motives of the protestors or their benefactors are irrelevant to the question of whether the factory is dangerous or not.
18.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ █ ████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ███████ █████████
a
The argument mischaracterizes ██ ████████ ████ ███ ████ ███████ ████ ████████████████ █████
There’s no reason to believe that the mayor mischaracterizes the claim that the factory could cause health problems. The flaw lies in attacking the protestors’ motives rather than their claims.
b
The argument attempts ██ ████████ ██ ████████ ████ ██ ███ ████████████ ██ █████████ ███ ███████████
The mayor doesn’t refer to any potential consequences of agreeing with the opposing side. The argument’s flaw is attacking the opposing side’s motives rather than the substance of their claim.
c
The argument rejects █ █████ ██████ ███████ ██ ███ ██████████ ████ ████ ██████ ████ ███ ██████ ███
This describes how the mayor dismisses the opposing claim simply because some of the protestors making it may have an ulterior motive. Whether they actually do or not, there’s still no evidence showing that the plant isn’t dangerous.
d
The argument generalizes ██ ███ █████ ██ █ ███ ████████████████ ██████
The argument doesn’t generalize; the conclusion is only focused on refuting the opposing side’s claim that the factory can cause harm. The flaw is failing to actually address it, attacking some of the motives behind it instead.
e
The argument mistakes █ █████ ████ █ ██████ ██ ████████ ███ █ █████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ ███████████
The mayor doesn’t take the protestors to be claiming that health problems will inevitably result. The flaw is that the mayor attacks their motives instead of the substance of their claim.