PT119.S2.Q14 > Question

SECTION 1 · rc

PASSAGE 1

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7

PASSAGE 2

Question 8 Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Question 12 Question 13 Question 14 Question 15

PASSAGE 3

Question 16 Question 17 Question 18 Question 19 Question 20 Question 21

PASSAGE 4

Question 22 Question 23 Question 24 Question 25 Question 26 Question 27

SECTION 2 · lr

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Question 12 Question 13 Question 14 Question 15 Question 16 Question 17 Question 18 Question 19 Question 20 Question 21 Question 22 Question 23 Question 24 Question 25

SECTION 3 · lr

SECTION 4 · lr

The author concludes that Bacon’s work on optics should be disregarded, even though it’s generally respected. His reasoning is that Bacon appealed to authority to support his arguments, despite hypocritically warning others not to do so.

This is a cookie-cutter attacking the source of the argument (ad hominem) flaw. The author attacks the source of certain ideas about optics, without attacking the ideas themselves.

The author doesn’t make any presumptions about how often expert authority is (or isn’t) correct. His argument is based on Bacon’s inconsistency in sometimes relying on expert authority and sometimes not.

The author’s critique isn’t that Bacon relies on authority opinion. It’s that he’s inconsistent about doing so: sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn’t.

Bacon’s remarks to his students could legitimately be used as evidence of his opinions. The author’s flaw is thinking that Bacon’s other opinions can be used to discredit his work on optics.

On the contrary, the author’s entire argument is meant to discredit the work of a thirteenth-century scientist.

The author accuses Bacon of hypocrisy in order to undermine Bacon’s findings about optics. This is the cookie-cutter ad hominem flaw: Bacon’s other opinions or character traits aren’t relevant to his discoveries about optics.

PrepTest 119 - Section 2 - Question 14

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