PT17.S1.Q18

PrepTest 17 - Section 1 - Question 18

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“Physicalists” expect that ultimately all mental functions will be explainable in neurobiological terms. █████████ ████ ████ ████████ █████████ ██ ███████ ███ █████ █████ ██████████ █ █████████ ██ ███ ███████ █████████ ███ █ ███████████ ██ ███ █████████████ █████████ ██ ██ ██████████ ██ ████████ █████ ██ █ ███████████ ██████ ██ ███████████ █████████ █████ ███ █████ █████████ ██ ████████ ███ ███ █████ ███ █████████ ██ ████ █████████████ ██████████ ██ ██████ ██████████ ███ ██████ ███ ████ ███████████ █████ ██ ███ ████████████ ██████ ██████ █████████ ███ █████ ██ ███████ ████████████ ██ ███████████████ █████ ██ ███ ████ ███████

Objective: Identify a Flaw

The argument concludes that we will soon be able to explain all mental functions based on neurobiology, as physicalists predict. How do we know? The argument sets out three conditions for this goal: knowledge of neurons and their basic functions, knowledge of how neurons interact, and delineation of the mental functions to be explained. It then tells us that two of those conditions have been met: we know about neurons' basic functions, and we've done the delineation of mental functions.

There are two issues that are most apparent with this argument. First, the three conditions are presented as necessary conditions, but the conclusion treats their fulfillment as sufficient for the physicalists' goal. Second, even if they were jointly sufficient conditions, only two out of three conditions are met. As far as we know, the condition of knowing how neurons interact is still unmet.

Answer Choice Strategy

Since we've predicted two possible flaws, we can start out by hunting through the answer choices. If we don't find either flaw we're looking for, we can revert to process of elimination. The correct answer will do two things: it will accurately describe the argument, and it will identify a flaw. Incorrect answers will be inaccurate, or they will point out things the argument does that aren't flaws.

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18.

Which one of the following █████████ ██ █████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ███ ████████

a

The conclusion contradicts ███ █████ ██ ███ █████████████

Physicalists claim that we'll be able to explain all mental functions using neurobiology. The conclusion says the same thing. (A) is inaccurate to the argument.

4%
b

The passage fails ██ ████████ ███████ ████ ██ █████████ █████ █████ ███ █████ █████████ ██ ████████

(B) is accurate: the argument never goes into detail about neurons' basic functions. However, this is not a flaw. Knowing about neurons' basic functions is presented as a condition for the physicalists' goal, so all the argument has to do is affirm that the condition is met.

7%
c

The word “neurobiological” ██ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ███ ███ ████ ███████ ██ ███ ████ █████████████

The argument uses "mental" as synonymous with "psychological", to mean processes of the mind. "Neurobiological" is used distinctly, to mean biological processes involving neurons. (C) is inaccurate to the argument.

9%
d

The argument does ███ ████████ ███████ ██ █████ ██ ██████ ██ ███████ ██████ █████████ ██ ███████████████ ██████

The argument is only concerned with the conclusion that we will be able to explain mental functions using neurobiology. Although (D) is correct that the argument doesn't address usefulness, this isn't a flaw. It's just beyond the argument's scope.

8%
e

The passage does ███ ████████ ████ ███ █████████ ███ ████ ████████ █████ ███ ███████ █████████

The argument sets three conditions for the physicalists' goal: knowledge of neurons and their functions, knowledge of how neurons interact, and delineation of mental functions. However, it only affirms that the first and third conditions are met. (E) is accurate in saying the argument overlooks neurons' interactions.

This is also a flaw, because the argument acts as though all three conditions are met. It concludes that the physicalists' goal will soon be achieved, even though we don't know if all the conditions are met. Because of this oversight, the support for the conclusion is flawed.

73%

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