Principle and Parallel Reasoning Flashcards

A principle holds: 'Scientific claims should be accepted only when independently replicated.' A journal editor rejects a paper reporting a novel drug interaction. Which statement, if true, most directly justifies the rejection under this principle?

Answer: No other laboratory has reported this interaction despite studying the same drug combination.

The absence of independent replication by other labs studying the same combination directly satisfies the principle's condition for withholding acceptance.

Which argument has a structure that most closely parallels: 'All actions that violate consent are wrong. Forcing someone to sign a document is an action that violates consent. Therefore, forcing someone to sign is wrong'?

Answer: All trespass is unauthorized entry. Breaking into a car is unauthorized entry. Therefore, breaking into a car is trespass.

Option B applies a universal definition ('All X is Y') to a specific act ('this is Y') and concludes the act is X — the same valid categorical syllogism as the original.

Principle: 'A spokesperson for an organization may be held accountable for statements made in their official capacity even if they personally disagreed with those statements.' A plaintiff seeks to hold a company's former PR director liable for a misleading press release. Which fact would most undermine the principle's application here?

Answer: The PR director privately emailed executives objecting to the release before it was issued.

The principle applies 'even if they personally disagreed,' so private objection alone does not undermine accountability — however, the key question is official capacity; none of these eliminate official capacity except if the release was not made in that capacity, making A the closest underminer by showing disagreement (though the principle explicitly covers this case, making it the weakest application).

Sociologist: 'Communities with strong social trust have lower crime rates. Northville has strong social trust. Therefore, Northville likely has a lower crime rate than communities with weak social trust.' Which of the following is an assumption required by this argument?

Answer: Social trust in Northville has not been eroded by recent events.

The argument's conclusion depends on Northville currently having strong social trust; if that trust has recently eroded, the premise no longer applies to Northville.

Which reasoning error in the following argument most closely resembles equivocation: 'Laws should be followed because they express the will of the people. The law of gravity expresses how nature works. Therefore, the law of gravity should be followed'?

Answer: Using the word 'law' in two different senses to reach an invalid conclusion.

The argument exploits the word 'law,' which means a legislative rule in the first premise and a natural regularity in the second, to draw a conclusion that conflates the two.

A principle states: 'A journalist is ethically obligated to protect a source's identity when disclosure would place the source in danger.' Editor Chen argues the principle does not obligate her to protect a particular source. Which finding best supports Chen's position?

Answer: The source's identity is already known to the public through other reporting.

If the source's identity is already publicly known, disclosure cannot 'place the source in danger,' so the triggering condition of the principle is not met.

Argument: 'Every applicant who was rejected this year had a GPA below 3.5. Priya was rejected this year. Therefore, Priya's GPA is below 3.5.' This argument is flawed because it:

Answer: Confuses a necessary condition with a sufficient condition for rejection.

A GPA below 3.5 may be necessary for rejection without being sufficient; the argument wrongly infers from rejection that the GPA condition must hold, treating a sufficient condition for rejection as if it were the only route to rejection.