Argument Assessment Flashcards

Which of the following arguments contains an implicit (unstated) premise?

Answer: You should eat vegetables because vegetables are healthy

The argument 'eat vegetables because they are healthy' assumes an unstated premise that 'you should eat what is healthy,' which is needed to connect the premise to the conclusion.

The CCTST assesses critical thinking partly by asking test-takers to evaluate argument quality. Which skill is MOST central to this task?

Answer: Identifying whether reasons actually support conclusions and spotting flawed reasoning

Argument evaluation fundamentally requires judging whether given reasons adequately support the conclusion and detecting errors in reasoning.

A slippery slope argument claims: 'If we allow physician-assisted dying in extreme cases, eventually doctors will euthanize patients without consent.' Without supporting evidence, this argument is weak because:

Answer: It assumes a chain of events will occur without demonstrating why each step would lead to the next

A slippery slope fallacy asserts a progression of events without showing that each step is likely or that intermediate safeguards couldn't prevent the alleged outcome.

When an arguer defines a term in a biased or loaded way to make their conclusion seem inevitable, this is called:

Answer: Persuasive definition

A persuasive definition redefines a term to carry an evaluative bias, steering the audience toward a conclusion by embedding assumptions into the definition.

In the argument: 'No true American would support this policy, and since you support it, you are not a true American,' which fallacy is most evident?

Answer: No true Scotsman fallacy (moving the goalposts)

The 'no true Scotsman' fallacy redefines membership in a group to exclude counterexamples, making the original claim unfalsifiable.

Which pair of terms correctly describes the two main dimensions for evaluating inductive arguments?

Answer: Strong and cogent

Inductive arguments are evaluated as strong or weak (does evidence support the conclusion?) and cogent or not cogent (strong with true premises).

An argument uses the word 'bank' to mean a financial institution in one premise and a riverbank in another premise. This error is called:

Answer: Equivocation

Equivocation occurs when the same word is used with two different meanings in the same argument, making the reasoning invalid.