Which one of the following statements most accurately characterizes a difference between the two passages?
Aceon March 5, 2023
Flawed Premises
In regards to the example below demonstrating a flawed argument, how can us as the reader determine a flawed premise?
premise: anyone named Sue is a girl.
premise: x is named Sue.
ConclusionL x is a girl.
how is this any different from the valid carrot/vegetable argument? Is this because the premise states that "anyone" but not "everyone" named Sue is a girl?
Thank you.
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I don't think the issue is anyone v everyone, since in this case they would mean the same thing. A flawed premise is just a premise that is factually incorrect. If there were a boy named sue, that would prove this premise incorrect. Note that this is one of two reasons and argument could be invalid, the other being a flawed argument in which the premises do not prove the conclusion. Flawed arguments are extremely more common than flawed premises. While one way to weaken an argument is by attacking or disproving a premise (and you may see examples of this on weaken, flaw, and strengthen questions) it will be far more common to attack an argument than to disprove a premise. The lsat is not testing our ability to know which premises are true and which are not.
