Logical Reasoning Strengthen: 2 Arguments Presented

[FIDELIO]

Just a general question here.

Suppose for a Strengthen question there are two speakers Dick and Jane.

Both make arguments.

The Question asks you to Strengthen the argument made by Dick.

For a particular case is it possible to Strengthen his argument by weakening Jane's?

That is to say a correct answer choice would weaken Jane's argument?



Thanks.

[Nicholas Bruno]

Hi,

Its hard for me to think of an example of this off the top of my head (of this actually occurring on the LSAT). I will give you my initial reaction to your hypothetical question but just realize this may or may not be applicable depending on the nuances of an individual question.

My initial reaction is that, no, you would not be strengthening Dick's argument by weakening Jane's. The fact that Jane's argument is weak does not make Dick's argument any stronger.

An exception would be where you are maybe eliminating an alternative cause. So Dick argues A causes B. Jane argues C causes B. The answer choice eliminates the possibility C causes B (thereby weakening Jane's argument). The answer choice would strengthen Dick's argument because it eliminates an alternate cause.

That all being said, its hard for me to give you a hard yes or no without a specific question in mind. I hope that helps somewhat!

[FIDELIO]

You nailed it. That alternative cause for the effect was specifically what I was referring to.

So yeah it looks like for certain strengthen causation problem weakening one persons argument can strengthen the other.

So I need to take this into account when I eliminate all answers during the first go round.

Thanks.