Answers to assignments 315
from inadequate, anecdotal evidence.
But equally it could be described as
a false cause, in the sense that lack
of exercise did not necessarily cause
Farrah Lavallier to have a long life. (She
might have had a long life despite not
because of it, or for some other reason.)
b B is the answer. It exposes the second
of the fallacies described above, by
suggesting a genetic explanation for
Farrah’s longevity: nothing to do with
saving her energy.
3 The graphs would give little or no support
to the conclusion. The conclusion is
very general, whereas the data in the
graphs concerns one city and one online
supplier. To argue on this basis would
commit the fallacy of generalising from
a single case; or of assuming that the city
and the supplier were representative or
typical. Even if the assumed correlation
were supported by the graph, it would still
not follow that the games were a causal
factor in the increased crime.
4 Ongoing project3.1 What do we mean by a ‘problem’?
1, 2 Variable responses
3 The key here is to be systematic: did you
look at all the possibilities? Could you
find ways to save time, for example by
eliminating some orders which leap large
distances on each leg of the journey?
4 a The answer is three. If the first two you
pick out are of different colours (the
‘worst-case scenario’), the third must
match one of them.
b The answer is two. As for the situation
above, if the first two are different, the
third must match one of them.
c The answer is nine. The first eight you
pull out could all be black; the ninth
must then be blue so you will have
one of each.
d The answer is eight. As above, the first
eight you take out could all be the
same.Nashida is not claiming she has been
unfairly dismissed.
c C is obviously assumed. A is not. If
it is read carefully it should be clear
that the argument would stand, i.e.
the conclusion would follow, even if
there had been no intention to entice
children to drink alcohol. It would still
be right to ban alcopops if this had
been an unintended consequence of
adding sweetener. D, likewise, is not
necessary for the argument.
B is the interesting one. You could say
it was implied in a way. You could say
that there would be no need to make
drinks sweet if children liked alcohol
anyway. But it isn’t really key to the
argument: children might like the taste
of alcohol, but like it more if it is sweet.
If you selected B as well as C, it is not
obviously wrong; but it is debatable.
2 Crucially this argument assumes that if
information is unregulated and/or there is
freedom of information, that is a bad thing.
There are other assumptions beside this,
but without this one, or something
equivalent, the argument definitely fails.
3 Variable responses (You could try writing
an argument that made no implicit
assumptions at all.)
4 Variable responses2.10 Flaws and fallacies
1 a The answer is B. The flaw is false
cause, or cause–correlation fallacy.
b A and less obviously B both weaken the
argument by suggesting that the causal
connection could be the reverse: that
success makes the workers less happy
(because they are less well cared for
in the case of B). That undermines
the conclusion that making workers
unhappy will lead to success. C does
not weaken the argument. If anything
it strengthens it.
2 a The fallacy could be described as over-
generalising from the particular, or