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Question about flaw and weaken type Qs

carpediemcarpediem Member

Hi! I have a question about flaw and weaken type Qs on LR.
So, if i remember correctly, JY said in one of his lessons that the arguments for flaw type questions might have several unstated assumptions but it doesn't necessarily mean that all those assumptions could be classified as flaws.
Besides the common flaws that he listed for us in his lesson (ex. red herring fallacy, opinion vs fact etc.), how can we decide which assumptions count or does not count as flaws?
This also lead me to question the difference between weakening and flaw type Qs: could the assumptions that do not count as flaws in flaw questions be used to weaken such arguments should they be used in weaken type questions?

I know this all sounds kind of confusing but any opinion on this would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

Comments

  • Confidence150Confidence150 Alum Member
    1417 karma

    I think it depends on the specific argument. In some arguments, there isn’t an error and your job is to try take away support between the premise and conclusion-weakening question. Other arguments have an error and the argument is weak. With flaw questions, you are trying to find the error in the argument. There is a two step test for flaw questions. The answer choice must be descriptively accurate and match with the stimulus, and describing the flaw/error in the statement. As for weakening question, you are trying to takeaway the support between the premise and conclusion in the stimulus with the correct answer choice.

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