Museum Curator: For historical textiles to be preserved without degradation for over a century, they absolutely must be stored in climate-controlled environments with strictly regulated humidity. Because our institution recently secured the funding to install state-of-the-art humidity-control systems in all of our storage vaults, we can be confident that the historical textiles in our collection will not degrade over the next century.
Which of the following most accurately describes a flaw in the museum curator's reasoning?
- takes for granted that satisfying a prerequisite for an objective is enough to ensure that the objective is achievedAnswer
- Binfers that humidity control actively causes textile preservation based solely on instances where the two have historically coincided
- Callows the meaning of the concept of degradation to shift subtly between the initial requirement and the final claim
- Dassumes without warrant that if the institution had failed to secure the necessary funding, the textiles would inevitably have degraded
- Emistakes a subsidiary claim about the acquisition of funding for the primary conclusion of the argument
Answer
The argument assumes that fulfilling a necessary requirement (regulated humidity) guarantees the desired outcome (preservation without degradation).
The curator's argument relies on a classic conditional logic flaw. The first sentence establishes that regulated humidity is required (a necessary condition) for preserving textiles. However, the conclusion assumes that simply meeting this single requirement is enough to completely guarantee preservation. By doing so, the curator takes for granted that satisfying a prerequisite (humidity control) is sufficient to ensure the objective is achieved, ignoring other factors that might also be required for preservation, such as light control or pest management.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Necessary vs. Sufficient Condition Flaws