Caldwell: The government recently demolished a former naval base. Among the complex's facilities were a gymnasium, a...

Mehran on August 28, 2017

Hi @JayDee8732, thanks for your post. This is an Errors in Reasoning question. Let's examine the stimulus first.

The stimulus contains an argument, as follows:

P: The government recently demolished a former naval base.

P: The facilities of the demolished base included a gym, swimming pool, office buildings, gardens, and housing.

P: The government is legally permitted to use these facilities as it wished.

SC: But using the facilities for the good of the community would have benefited everyone.

C: Thus, the government's actions were not only inefficient but immoral.

This conclusion does not follow logically from these premises. Yes, what the government did here may have been inefficient, but the stimulus goes further and claims it was immoral.

Answer choice (A) identifies the error in Caldwell's reasoning. Caldwell fails to consider that an action (here, demolishing the former naval base) may be morally permissible (i.e., not immoral) even if the alternative course of action (not demolishing the base) would have been to everyone's advantage.

Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any additional questions.