Flawed Parallel ReasoningDiff: Hard
Logic Breakdown
Passage Summary: Just because only a few people who do politics care about social justice, the author concludes that there must be some people who care about social justice but don't do politics.
Conclusion: Some people who possess a sense of social justice do not participate in political action.
Reasoning: Only a small portion of those who are politically active are motivated by a sense of social justice.
Analysis: This argument suffers from a confusion regarding subsets and total populations. Just because social justice seekers make up a 'minority' of the political activist group, it doesn't mean there are any social justice seekers left over who are *not* in that group. It is mathematically possible for every single person with a sense of social justice to be a political activist, even if they only make up 1% of all activists. To parallel this, look for an answer that concludes something about the 'outside' of a group based solely on the composition of the 'inside' of that group.
Conclusion: Some people who possess a sense of social justice do not participate in political action.
Reasoning: Only a small portion of those who are politically active are motivated by a sense of social justice.
Analysis: This argument suffers from a confusion regarding subsets and total populations. Just because social justice seekers make up a 'minority' of the political activist group, it doesn't mean there are any social justice seekers left over who are *not* in that group. It is mathematically possible for every single person with a sense of social justice to be a political activist, even if they only make up 1% of all activists. To parallel this, look for an answer that concludes something about the 'outside' of a group based solely on the composition of the 'inside' of that group.
Passage Stimulus
Passage Redacted
Unlock Full Passage22.Which one of the following uses flawed reasoning most similar to that used in the argument above?
Correct Answer
A
Like the original, it infers “some W are not S” from “most S are not W.” From “Most scholars are not motivated by a desire to win prizes,” it concludes “some of those who want to win prizes are not scholars.” That mirrors the same invalid shift from a proportion within one group to an existence claim about the other group.
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