Self-study
Hello!
I have a couple of questions and need help figuring out if anyone has advice please share.
First- i'm struggling really badly with Necessary vs Sufficient - I believe my sufficient I'm starting to get better at it but still iffy. But necessary I can't seem to get, I've even put it in a real life situation and still nothing.
Second - I use my tutor notes and drill on 7sage . But they have different wording for RC passages. For example like my tutor has normative passages, descriptive passages, and comparative. But 7sage has something completely different and while drilling I can’t figure out which is which. If you can explain or know which passages is which. Please let me know!!
Third - my tutor question type is built the principle which he has in brackets (justify the argument) I'm trying to drill this but I'm not sure what question type built the principle is, I've done principle under drill and it doesn't seem like that's it and seems like a different one, does anyone know.
And lastly oof - tips on Inference questions, I've tried everything adding therefore, building a puzzle nothing.... just not sure they all seem right!! ahh
If you have any tips please let me know!!!
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2 comments
One thing to ask yourself with necessary assumptions is, "necessary for what?" Necessary for the argument to work.
In other words, assume the argument is true. It is the real world, or one possible universe we are imagining.
"Tom is the best person to be thrown off of the bridge."
Assume that argument is true/valid/reality. What must also be true? One possibility might be: "Samantha is not the best person to be thrown off of the bridge." In a universe where Tom is the best, Samantha cannot be the best.
In another sense, if the argument is true/works/valid, the NA is something that must also be true. This is how the "negation test" comes in. If a NA (which must be true for argument to work) is not true, then it calls into question the argument. If Samantha WAS the best person to be thrown off the bridge, then how can Tom be the best to be thrown off the bridge?
There's a lot more one could say about Necessary Assumption questions, but one key point is making sure you understand what it means for an assumption to be necessary. Examine your understanding here and see if you can explain it using examples.
Come up with a basic argument with a premise and a conclusion. Identify one necessary assumption. Why is it necessary? Identify a claim that is not a necessary assumption. Why is it not necessary?
If you struggle to do this, then I'd spend time going back to the Necessary Assumption module in the CC.
"normative passage" - this sounds like Critique or Debate would capture a lot of what your tutor has in mind.
"descriptive passage" - Spotlight probably captures this well, although there will be descriptive passages found in other tags, too.
The normative vs. descriptive split sounds like it's based on whether the author is making an argument vs. merely describing things without expressing an opinion. This is a valuable distinction to make, but we didn't categorize passages this way because the vast majority of passages will be normative.
"comparative" - this refers to the passages tagged "comparative" (the passages with 2 short passages paired together).
What your tutor calls "Justify the argument" probably refers to what we call Pseudo-Sufficient Assumption (PSAr is the tag) and/or Sufficient Assumption.