QUESTION TEXT: Editorialist: In all cultures, it is almost…
QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning
CONCLUSION: Most people would probably agree it is sometimes morally right to hinder the police from doing their jobs.
REASONING: Every culture almost universally agrees that we have a moral duty to prevent our family from being harmed. Therefore, most people would agree parents are morally correct to hide a falsely accused child from the police.
ANALYSIS: Yes, we have a duty to protect family. But, other duties might override that. For example, most people might believe @we have a duty to help the police@. In this case, many people might believe that this duty supersedes the duty to family.
[You might have wondered why the argument has @thus@ and @hence@. Does it have two conclusions? Yes. The sentence after thus is an intermediate conclusion, which supports the final conclusion.]
___________
- This is tempting, but it’s different. The generalization in the stimulus says @sometimes@. You only need one case to prove that! An overbroad generalization will be different. Here’s one: @This police officer made a false accusation. Therefore, almost all police officers will make false accusations.@
- CORRECT. Many people might believe that the police are honest and there is a moral duty to help them. If so, they may also believe that this duty overrides a duty to protect family.
- The author wasn’t talking about justice. They were talking about assisting police. If you are hiding a suspect from the police you are obviously obstructing the police, even if it is morally just to hide that suspect.
- This is a trap. We don’t actually know if the law requires that parents hand over an accused child.
- This attacks a premise in the argument. The editorialist said that “if a person is known by the person’s parents” to be innocent. So in the example the parents do know the innocence is real. It’s a hypothetical situation, so the editorialist can assume whatever they want!
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