PTF97.S3.Q10 - All coffee drinkers in an office ought to

The NoodleyThe Noodley Alum Member
edited January 2019 in Logical Reasoning 662 karma

I could not figure out why this is a circular reasoning...or my understanding of CR is too mechanical?

the conclusion is "....ought to do C..."

the only premise is "it is better if C happens"

the flaw I thought was the switch from the descriptive language to the prescriptive one

Admin note: edited title

Comments

  • eRetakereRetaker Free Trial Member
    edited January 2019 2043 karma

    I think in this case it might be most helpful to ignore the middle part about "although some drinkers would prefer to....or in some other manner."

    The only premise, as you mentioned, is "it is better if C happens." In this case you can infer that the conclusion is pretty much saying it is better to do C. Thus, the way to actually read it is conclusion=it is better to do C because premise=it is better if C happens. Let me know if it looks more like circular reasoning now.

  • The NoodleyThe Noodley Alum Member
    662 karma

    @eRetaker said:
    I think in this case it might be most helpful to ignore the middle part about "although some drinkers would prefer to....or in some other manner."

    The only premise, as you mentioned, is "it is better if C happens." In this case you can infer that the conclusion is pretty much saying it is better to do C. Thus, the way to actually read it is conclusion=it is better to do C because premise=it is better if C happens. Let me know if it looks more like circular reasoning now.

    thank you! now it looks like circular reasoning; I think there is a small assumption made here? (better =ought to) or am I being too mechanical?

  • eRetakereRetaker Free Trial Member
    2043 karma

    Yeah it's a bit of an inference since they're saying you ought to do it because it is better. I think it'll start being more obvious what is being inferred but isn't written later in your studies.

  • The NoodleyThe Noodley Alum Member
    662 karma

    @eRetaker said:
    Yeah it's a bit of an inference since they're saying you ought to do it because it is better. I think it'll start being more obvious what is being inferred but isn't written later in your studies.

    thank you!

Sign In or Register to comment.