Urban Anthropologist: There is no way for a sprawling metropolis to sustain long-term civic cohesion if its diverse populations do not broadly believe in the fairness of municipal administration. In turn, this vital belief cannot take root among the populace unless the city possesses a robust and inclusive local economy. It follows that if city administrators successfully foster an inclusive local economy and actively promote a broad belief in the fairness of their administration, the metropolis is guaranteed to sustain long-term civic cohesion.
The argument's reasoning is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it...
- concludes that an outcome is guaranteed to materialize based solely on the fact that the established prerequisites for that outcome have been met.Answer
- Btakes for granted that a sprawling metropolis will inevitably lose its civic cohesion if it fails to maintain a robust and inclusive local economy.
- Cignores the possibility that fostering an inclusive local economy might itself be impossible to achieve without the prior existence of civic cohesion.
- Drelies on the extreme assumption that civic cohesion will disintegrate if even a small minority of the population questions the fairness of the administration.
- Einfers a direct causal link between economic inclusivity and civic cohesion based entirely on the observation that the two phenomena often occur together.
Answer
The argument is flawed because it concludes that an outcome is guaranteed to materialize based solely on the fact that the established prerequisites for that outcome have been met.
The argument exhibits a classic formal logic flaw by confusing necessary conditions with sufficient conditions. The premises explicitly state that a broad belief in fairness and an inclusive local economy are prerequisites (necessary conditions) for sustaining civic cohesion. However, the conclusion claims that if these two prerequisites are successfully established, civic cohesion is 'guaranteed' (treating them as sufficient conditions). Satisfying the minimum requirements for an event to occur does not ensure that the event will actually occur.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Flaw in the Reasoning: Confusing Necessary and Sufficient Conditions
Alternative Method
Instead of formally mapping the conditional logic (A requires B), you can intuitively evaluate the argument's structure by asking a real-world hypothetical: 'Could a city possess an inclusive economy and a belief in fairness, but still lose civic cohesion due to an entirely different factor, such as an external war or a natural disaster?' Because the answer is yes, achieving those two conditions is not enough to 'guarantee' cohesion, exposing the flaw.
Estimated Time:2m 0s