The question stem is asking us which one of the following answer choices has the same error of reasoning in the stimulus EXCEPT. Make sure to read the question stem carefully, as it can cost you dear points. So our correct answer will be the only one that does not have the same flaw as that in the stimulus.
First step: let's break down the stimulus.
"If a society encourages freedom of thought and expression, then, during the time when it does so, creativity will flourish in that society."
P: EFE ==> CF not CF ==> not EFE
"In the Unites States creativity flourished during the eighteenth century."
P: CF
"It is clear, therefore, that freedom of thought was encouraged in the United States during the eighteenth century."
C: EFE
The flaw in the argument is that the necessary condition "CF" is being used to conclude the sufficient condition "EFE." And, as you know, a necessary condition does not lead us to any other information.
Answer choice (A-D) all make the same mistake as that in the argument. Answer choice (E), however, is not a flawed argument. Let's diagram:
"for a country to be democratic, the opinion of each of its citizens must have a meaningful effect on government,"
P: D ==> ECMEG not ECMEG ==> not D
"in none of these countries does each citizen's opinion have such an effect."
P: not ECMEG
"None of the so-called Western democracies is really democratic."
C: not D
This is a valid argument. It is invoking the sufficient condition of the contrapositive to conclude the necessary condition of the contrapositive. Thus, it is a valid contrapositive argument, i.e. it does not parallel the same error of reasoning as that in the stimulus.
Hope that was helpful! Please let us know if you have any other questions.
loungecleanerDecember 18, 2016
How come the passage isn't diagramed as FT and E - -> CF ? I think this is why I got it wrong?
MehranDecember 20, 2016
@loungecleaner either would be correct.
EFE ==> CF
EFE = encourage freedom of thought and expression
EFT & EFE ==> CF
EFT = encourage freedom of thought EFE = encourage freedom of expression
Either way, the author is taking the existence of the necessary condition to conclude that one of the two sufficient conditions also existed.
(E) is the correct answer because it does not exhibit this flaw. In fact, (E) is a valid argument.
Hope that helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions.
jnucciMay 21, 2018
This makes absolutely no sense to me. The flaw in the passage is that it's a just a reversal of the positive argument structure. The flaw in letter choice A is that it's just a reversal of the positive argument structure. How is that not the answer? Even in the video explanation it is diagrammed identically to the passage diagram.
MehranMay 22, 2018
@jnucci, you are not reading the question carefully enough. This is an EXCEPT question. This means that 4 of the 5 answer choices have the same flaw as the stimulus. Answer choice (A) is one of the 4 answer choices that have the same flaw. In the context of an EXCEPT question, answer choice (A) is WRONG.
Answer choice (E) is right because it DOES NOT exhibit a flaw like the one in the stimulus.
