QUESTION TEXT: Terry: Some actions considered to be bad…
QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning
CONCLUSION: Terry’s conclusion is that some things that we think are bad are actually good.
Pat has the same conclusion.
REASONING: Terry’s Reasoning is that some actions we think are bad have favorable consequences (some TB ➞ F), and an action is good only if it has favorable consequences (G ➞ F).
Pat’s reasoning is that some good actions have no favorable consequences ( Some G ➞ F). And, if society thinks something is bad, then it has no favorable consequences (TB ➞ F).
ANALYSIS: Both Terry and Pat mistake necessary conditions for sufficient conditions.
First, I’ll use an outside example. You need to graduate from law school to be a lawyer (L ➞ LS). But you don’t have to be a lawyer if you graduate from law school.
Let’s start with Terry. Good things need to have favorable consequences (G ➞ F). But just because you have favorable consequences doesn’t mean you’re good. Almost everything has some good consequence.
Now Pat. Some good things have no favorable consequences (Some G ➞ F). Being polite in certain situations, for example. And things we think are bad have no favorable consequences (TB ➞ F) e.g. murder. But that doesn’t mean the two groups overlap. “Not favorable” is not a sufficient condition for either group.
___________
- This means: assuming that if two things have one difference, then they have many differences.
- Here’s an example: most Americans are women (true), therefore all Americans are women (false).
- This means: If Americans shake hands when they greet each other, then people must do the same thing in China.
- CORRECT. This is it. See the discussion above.
- This means: if both running and walking use our legs, then that’s the only difference running and walking have from everything else we do. It’s pretty stupid.
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