Editorialist: Society is obligated to bestow the privileges of adulthood upon its members once they are mature eno...

Victoria on June 15, 2020

Hi @ElizabethGlassmann,

This is an Errors in Reasoning question. We are looking for the flaw in the editorialist's reasoning.

The best way to approach these questions is to first develop a full understanding of what the editorialist concludes and the reasoning they use to draw this conclusion.

The editorialist concludes that there is no reason not to grant seventeen-year-olds all the privileges of adulthood.

Why? Because society is obligated to grant all the privileges of adulthood to those citizens who are mature enough to accept the corresponding responsibilities.

How do we know that seventeen-year-olds are mature enough to do so? Science has established that physiological development is completed in most persons by the age of seventeen.

What is the flaw in the editorialist's reasoning?

It equates physiological development with a level of maturity sufficient to accept both the privileges and responsibilities of adulthood.

The central concept in the stimulus is 'maturity;' however, the concept of maturity is ambiguous in that it could mean either physiological or psychological maturity.

It is clear that maturity in the general principle (the first sentence) is intended to mean psychological maturity, but the editorialist uses this ambiguity to draw their conclusion based on another meaning of the word.

In this way, the editorialist equivocates with respect to a central concept i.e. 'maturity.'

Hope this is helpful! Please let us know if you have any further questions.