QUESTION TEXT: Magazine article: Punishment for crimes is justified…
QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning
CONCLUSION: Punishment is never justified.
REASONING: Punishment is justified if it is a deterrent (D ➞ J). But punishment is never a deterrent.
ANALYSIS: Deterrence is sufficient to justify punishment. But there might be other reasons that punishment is justified.
Getting rid of a sufficient condition can’t prove that the necessary condition never happens. There can be multiple ways to reach a necessary condition.
___________
- We don’t know anything about the data, so why should we think it is biased?
- Punishment always means the same thing: a penalty.
- CORRECT. Deterrence is enough to justify punishment, but it might not be the only way to justify it. Maybe revenge or public safety are good enough reasons too.
- The argument says we shouldn’t punish. If we don’t punish anyone, then we won’t mistakenly punish the innocent.
- An example would be: If I said most Americans were rich, and that therefore most people in a certain State were rich. I’m being too precise.
Free Logical Reasoning lesson
Get a free sample of the Logical Reasoning Mastery Seminar. Learn tips for solving LR questions
Leave a Reply