Suppose I have promised to keep a confidence andsomeone asks me a question ... ...
Which one of the following arguments is most similar
in its reasoning to the argument above?
(A) It is claimed that we have the unencumbered
right to say whatever we want. It is also
claimed that we have the obligation to be civil
to others. But civility requires that we not
always say what we want. So, it cannot be true
both that we have the unencumbered right to
say whatever we want and that we have the
duty to be civil.
(B) ...
(C) ...
(D) ...
(E) ...
*This question is included in
Sample Lesson Set 3: Difficult Questions
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Posted: 01/14/2012 12:52
I am confused by the wording on question 2
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Posted: 01/15/2012 19:07
Hi, Margarita -
The question is asking you to figure out the basic structure of the example argument, then find another argument that follows the same structure.
A good first step is to rephrase the example in simpler terms, so that its structure is easier to see. For example, I might rephrase this one as:
"Imagine that I've promised to keep a secret, and that someone asks me a question that, if I answered truthfully, would give the secret away. I can't both keep my promise and answer truthfully. Therefore it can't be true that I'm obligated to do both."
The structure of this argument is along the lines of:
- Something ('A') seems to be true in principle. (In this case, that I should keep my promises.)
- Something else ('B') also seems to be true in principle. (I should answer questions truthfully.)
- In certain cases, A and B conflict.
--> Therefore A and B can't both be always true.
Once you've reached this point, you can analyze the answers to find one that follows the same structure.
Please post again if you still have questions.
Best,
Lyn
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Posted: 01/15/2012 22:39
Hello Lyn, for the record, to answer e.g. "it's confidential", is answering the question truthfully and not giving away the secret :)
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Posted: 01/15/2012 00:31
Margarita, your reply prior to this one is also one of not being able to understand the text that comes with the question. In order to extend your common knowledge required to understand these questions, having a dictionary on the side and pick up some challenging texts, will help you. Then having to use the dictionary less each text is a sign of improvement.
Niels
PS
The text to this question is rather awful, it describes the perspective of "it's ok to lie to get by", since 'the need to lie is part of the same lie.'
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Posted: 06/16/2012 14:50
I'm still extremely confused? I picked c?
Admin
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Posted: 07/26/2012 00:42
Fabiana, for questions in Lesson Sets, please follow the Hint in the problem. If you cannot follow the hint or explanation by contributors in the discussion forum, then you may post a question but be very specific about which step you are not able to follow. Due to limited resources, we are unable to re-explain a solution from scratch.
