Can "should" disqualify an AC in parallel reasoning

nathanieljschwartz

If the stimulus is formal logic and does not mention the word "should" and an AC is almost identical but uses the word "should" [i.e. "A" should be exercised only to "B" or to "C"] is this enough to disqualify it?
IMO it should be enough bc if the AC continues saying we have "A" and its not "B" therefore conclude = "C" this is not 100% bc maybe the person is not doing what he "should" do

Is my line of reasoning false?

BinghamtonDave

Hey @nathanieljschwartz , hope you are well. Do you have a specific example of this from a question?

olepueblo

Example? What does “AC” mean?

BinghamtonDave

@swamlepow it refers to answer choice.

nathanieljschwartz

Hey @BinghamtonDave i believe it was pt67 s2 q19 AC (E) employs "should"

olepueblo

Think you are correct. “Should” is normative or prescriptive like “ought”, etc. It would be fallacious to consider analogous or validly infer a normative statement from a non-normative one and vice versa. How can you make a valid value judgement from logical relationships that only describe what is? Don’t think you can validly. (See Hume’s is-ought problem) Though I’m sure some normative statements inferred from rigorous relationships may be better than others...

Watch out for normative statements made within the logical relationships in the stimulus (e.g. if Sally is at the seashore then she should sell sea shells). Then it could be appropriate to have a normative element in the answer choice.

-Sam

goingfor99th

It depends on the other answer choices and how well they correspond to the stimulus but yes this will often make an answer choice incorrect.

See: 'is-ought distinction'