QUESTION TEXT: Obviously, we cannot in any real sense…
QUESTION TYPE: Sufficient Assumption
CONCLUSION: We can’t mistreat plants.
REASONING: Plants don’t have nervous systems, and therefore can’t feel pain.
ANALYSIS: The argument assumes there’s no way to mistreat something if it can’t feel pain. That’s sort of silly. If I punch a hole in a wall, it seems fair to say I’m not treating the wall correctly, even if it can’t feel pain.
We can make this a good argument by assuming that something can’t be mistreated unless it feels pain.
(Mistreat ➞ pain)
Here’s how to diagram everything, including the correct answer:
Mistreat ➞ pain ➞ nervous system
And the Contrapositive:
No nervous system ➞ no pain ➞ can’t be mistreated
___________
- This doesn’t tell us that an organism that can’t experience pain can’t be mistreated.
- The last sentence already tells us this is true.
- Plants don’t have nervous systems, so this tells us nothing about plants.
- CORRECT. If this is true, then plants can’t be mistreated: plants can’t experience pain.
- Plants don’t have nervous systems, so this tells us nothing about them.
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