Self-study
Toy manufacturer: Our competitors argue that we should withdraw our KlopperKidz toys from stores because several children have allegedly been injured by them, and manufacturers should voluntarily withdraw toys that can lead to injury. █████ ████████████ ████████ ████ ███ ████ ███████ ████████████ ████ ██ ████ ████ ███████ ███ ████████████ ████████ █████ █████ ███ █████ ███████ ██████████ ███████ █████ ████ ████ ██████ █████████ ███ ████ ████ ███ ███████████ ██ ████████ ████ ████ ███████
Argument Summary
The competitors allege that children have been hurt by KlopperKidz toys. Because the competitors think that manufacturers should withdraw toys that can cause harm, they conclude that the author (the maker of KlopperKidz toys) should withdraw the toys.
The author points out that, although the competitors' own toys have caused injuries, they haven't withdrawn their own toys. In other words, the competitors are hypocrites. Thus, the author concludes, she doesn't need to withdraw KlopperKidz toys, even if they did hurt some kids.
Anticipation
The author's argument boils down to, "They're hypocrites! So don't listen to their argument." But this is flawed, because the author should engage with the merits of the competitors' argument. Whether the competitors follow their own principle about withdrawing toys doesn't affect the logic of their argument. (Consider the similarity between this flaw and the ad hominem flaw. Both flaws involve criticism of the source of an argument rather than the merits of the argument.)
4.
The toy manufacturer's argument is ████ ██████████ ██ ███ █████████ ████ ██
a
attempts to justify █ ██████████ ██ ████████ ███████ ████ ███ ████████ █████████
The author offers two reasons in support of her conclusion: (1) the competitors' toys have caused injuries, and (2) the competitors have not withdrawn those toys. But (1) and (2) are not mutually exclusive. They can both be true at the same time. For these to be mutually exclusive, it must be impossible for both of them to be true at the same time.
b
rejects an argument ██ ███ ███████ ████ █████ ██████ ██ ████ █ ██████ ████████ ██ ██████████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ██ ███ ██████████
The author doesn't comment on the interest that the competitors have in convincing people that the author should withdraw KlopperKidz toys. Although it's reasonable to think the competitors have an interest in hurting the author, because she's probably competing with them for sales, the author's rejection of the competitors' argument is based on their hypocrisy, not on their personal interest.
c
assumes that merely ███████ █████████ ███ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ██ █████ ██ ████ █████████ ██ █████
Although the author does claim that the allegations concerning KlopperKids haven't been proven, she never claims that the allegations are false. Notice that the author concludes the competitors' argument should be rejected "even if" the allegations were proved. So the author's reasoning allows for the allegations to be true. Whether they're true or not doesn't affect the author's argument.
d
rejects an argument ██ ███ ███████ ████ █████ ██████ ██ ████ ██████ ██ █████ ██ ████ ███ ████████ ██████████
This accurately describes the author's flaw. She rejects the competitors' argument on the grounds that the competitors have failed to follow their own recommendation (they haven't withdrawn their own toys despite the fact those toys can lead to injury). This is a flawed way to respond to the competitors because it doesn't engage with the merits of the competitors' argument.
e
takes a necessary █████████ ███ █ █████ █████ ██████ ██ ██ █ ██████████ █████████ ███ ███ █████ ██████
(E) describes a confusion of sufficient and necessary conditions (i.e., a conditional logic error). But the author never describes a necessary condition for considering a toy unsafe. She doesn't say, for example, that in order to call a toy unsafe, it must meet some condition. In addition, she doesn't conclude or assume that a toy is unsafe. So it doesn't make sense to accuse the author of believing something is a sufficient condition to consider a toy unsafe.