Help with Weakening Questions

x1amp9898

I am struggling quite a bit with weaken questions. Are you able to offer any advice on how best to approach and solve these, and maybe share your method for how you get these ones right? Thanks so much!!! #help

lizzogonzo

The key to weakening/strengthening (two sides of the same coin imo) is knowing the flaw. Remember that you're not attacking the premises or conclusion, but the support between them. The correct answer choice is always going to exploit this flaw in one way or another. When you understand even the general shape of the flaw (because you won't always be able to fully articulate what exactly the flaw is) you can still go into the answer choices with a chance of getting it right. I wouldn't go into these question types with a prediction because the correct answer can sometimes be subtle or come from an unexpected angle.

On harder weaken/strengthen questions, it might be harder to see the right answer. I'm a firm believer in process of elimination. And to be able to use POE effectively, you must, again, understand the flaw in some capacity. In doing so, you also know what the flaw isn't. This will increase your chances of getting these q types right.

Anyway this is what's worked for me at least! This question type is also not a strength of mine but I've significantly improved in my success rate so hopefully how I've done it can at least provide a different perspective for you to consider.

canihazJD

@lizzogonzo good post. Some additional things that help me:

Keep reminding yourself to limit yourself to the argument - just the premise to conclusion relationship. If you get stuck, re-clarify the argument. For weaken... we want to make the conclusion less likely... less supported.... why not (the conclusion)?

Anytime causal reasoning comes into play you should flash the 5 ways to weaken a causal argument and use those as guides. IMO it should be automatic like translating conditional statements.