- PowerScore Staff
- Posts: 8916
- Joined: Feb 02, 2011
- Wed Jun 28, 2017 1:04 pm
#36490
Complete Question Explanation
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (D)
The artist quoted here provides the conclusion of the argument in the first sentence of the stimulus:
Almost everyone in the country wants to be some sort of artist, regardless of what they might do to
pay their bills. In support of this conclusion the author provides the fact that almost everyone he or
she knows wants to be some sort of artist—a painter, or musician, or a poet—regardless of what they
might do for work. The argument basically breaks down as follows:
follows the stimulus makes it clear that a flaw is indeed present. The problem with the artist’s logic,
of course, is that a conclusion about the entire country’s population is based on a premise involving
one artist’s acquaintances. That is, we are provided with no reason to believe that this artist’s friends
provide a representative sample from which to draw reliable conclusions about the country’s entire
population.
Answer choice (A): This answer choice describes circular reasoning, which would actually describe
an argument more along these lines: Almost everyone I know really wants to be an artist, so I
conclude that almost all of the people I know really want to become artists. Since the artist’s premise
and conclusion are not same in the stimulus, so this is answer choice does not accurately characterize
the flaw in the author’s reasoning.
Answer choice (B): This answer choice might look appealing at first, but it is incorrect, because
this answer actually describes a different flaw—that of ascribing individuals’ attributes to an entire
country. The artist does not claim to know each person in the country, but instead is presuming that
what’s true of almost everyone the artist knows is true of everyone in the country. This is different
from the flaw provided in this answer choice—presuming that what is true of each individual person
is true of the population as a whole.
Answer choice (C): The artist’s statements are about people’s aspirations to become artists, not
widely held beliefs. The artist didn’t say “most people believe that everyone wants to be an artist, so
it must be true.” Rather, the artist said “most people I know want to be an artist, so most people in
the world must want to be an artist.”
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice; as discussed above, the author’s
conclusions are based on a sample that does not seem to be representative of the population as a
whole.
Answer choice (E): First of all, the author does distinguish between wanting to be an artist and doing
something else for a living. Second, the distinction between wanting to be an artist and making a
living at it is not needed—it’s not even relevant—to the author’s conclusion that almost everyone
wants to be an artist of some sort.
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (D)
The artist quoted here provides the conclusion of the argument in the first sentence of the stimulus:
Almost everyone in the country wants to be some sort of artist, regardless of what they might do to
pay their bills. In support of this conclusion the author provides the fact that almost everyone he or
she knows wants to be some sort of artist—a painter, or musician, or a poet—regardless of what they
might do for work. The argument basically breaks down as follows:
- Artist’s premise: Almost everyone I know wants to be an artist, regardless of what they
do in their current job.
Artist’s conclusion: Therefore almost everyone in this country really wants to become an
artist.
follows the stimulus makes it clear that a flaw is indeed present. The problem with the artist’s logic,
of course, is that a conclusion about the entire country’s population is based on a premise involving
one artist’s acquaintances. That is, we are provided with no reason to believe that this artist’s friends
provide a representative sample from which to draw reliable conclusions about the country’s entire
population.
Answer choice (A): This answer choice describes circular reasoning, which would actually describe
an argument more along these lines: Almost everyone I know really wants to be an artist, so I
conclude that almost all of the people I know really want to become artists. Since the artist’s premise
and conclusion are not same in the stimulus, so this is answer choice does not accurately characterize
the flaw in the author’s reasoning.
Answer choice (B): This answer choice might look appealing at first, but it is incorrect, because
this answer actually describes a different flaw—that of ascribing individuals’ attributes to an entire
country. The artist does not claim to know each person in the country, but instead is presuming that
what’s true of almost everyone the artist knows is true of everyone in the country. This is different
from the flaw provided in this answer choice—presuming that what is true of each individual person
is true of the population as a whole.
Answer choice (C): The artist’s statements are about people’s aspirations to become artists, not
widely held beliefs. The artist didn’t say “most people believe that everyone wants to be an artist, so
it must be true.” Rather, the artist said “most people I know want to be an artist, so most people in
the world must want to be an artist.”
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice; as discussed above, the author’s
conclusions are based on a sample that does not seem to be representative of the population as a
whole.
Answer choice (E): First of all, the author does distinguish between wanting to be an artist and doing
something else for a living. Second, the distinction between wanting to be an artist and making a
living at it is not needed—it’s not even relevant—to the author’s conclusion that almost everyone
wants to be an artist of some sort.