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- Mon Mar 13, 2017 3:05 pm
#33420
Complete Question Explanation
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (B)
Because salespeople in major health stores work on commission, the author suspects that they are lying about the quality of the products they sell. Also known as an ad hominem, this type of flawed argument attacks the person (or source) instead of the argument they advance. Here, the author focuses on the alleged motives of the salespeople without offering any evidence that their claims are actually inaccurate. This is a Source Argument error, which agrees with answer choice (B).
Answer choice (A): There is no circular argument here, because the premise presented is different from the conclusion.
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. The author infers that some claims are inaccurate solely because the salespeople making them (i.e. the source) have a vested interest in selling their products.
Answer choice (C): There is no evidence that the author attributes a characteristic of the whole group to a part of the group. Granted, the argument begins by making a general claim about all salespeople, but immediately thereafter focuses on salespeople working in major health stores. Because the second clause of the first sentence serves as a premise for the main conclusion, the argument cannot be said to contain an Error of Division.
Answer choice (D): There is no evidence suggesting that the argument contains an error in conditional reasoning.
Answer choice (E): The author does not make an appeal to authority in reaching her conclusion. There is no evidence of an appeal fallacy.
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (B)
Because salespeople in major health stores work on commission, the author suspects that they are lying about the quality of the products they sell. Also known as an ad hominem, this type of flawed argument attacks the person (or source) instead of the argument they advance. Here, the author focuses on the alleged motives of the salespeople without offering any evidence that their claims are actually inaccurate. This is a Source Argument error, which agrees with answer choice (B).
Answer choice (A): There is no circular argument here, because the premise presented is different from the conclusion.
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. The author infers that some claims are inaccurate solely because the salespeople making them (i.e. the source) have a vested interest in selling their products.
Answer choice (C): There is no evidence that the author attributes a characteristic of the whole group to a part of the group. Granted, the argument begins by making a general claim about all salespeople, but immediately thereafter focuses on salespeople working in major health stores. Because the second clause of the first sentence serves as a premise for the main conclusion, the argument cannot be said to contain an Error of Division.
Answer choice (D): There is no evidence suggesting that the argument contains an error in conditional reasoning.
Answer choice (E): The author does not make an appeal to authority in reaching her conclusion. There is no evidence of an appeal fallacy.