QUESTION TEXT: Advertisement: Among popular automobiles, Sturdimades stand…
QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning
CONCLUSION: Sturdimades can drive for long distances without wearing out.
REASONING: There is a club of people who have driven Sturdimades for long distances. Some Sturdimades have been driven for very long distances.
ANALYSIS: This is a terrible argument. It’s like saying: “There are many Americans who live to be over 90. Therefore, it’s safe to assume that Americans tend to live to be over 90.”
Just because some Sturdimades last a long time doesn’t mean all of them will.
The argument should have looked at all Sturdimades. Obviously, if you’re in a club for owners of long-lasting Sturdimades, your Sturdimade has lasted a long time. But maybe most Sturdimades are in scrapheaps.
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- CORRECT. The argument should have looked at other Sturdimades. The author only told us about Sturdimades that support his case.
- This is not a circular argument. The author uses evidence from the club to make a conclusion about all Sturdimades.
- Every term is used clearly. “Ambiguous usage” means a word’s definition switches. e.g. rare diamond vs. rare steak.
- The argument’s evidence weakly supports the conclusion. At least some Sturdimades are long lasting, so maybe all of them are.
- Popular opinion (“what people think”) isn’t even mentioned. We’re not told what members of the club think.
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