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Difficulty: MediumNecessary vs. Sufficient Condition Flaws

A comprehensive urban redevelopment plan will successfully revitalize the downtown district only if it includes substantial financial incentives for small businesses. The city council's newly proposed redevelopment plan features unprecedented financial incentives specifically designed to attract and retain small businesses. Thus, the council's plan is certain to successfully revitalize the downtown district.

Which of the following most accurately describes a flaw in the argument's reasoning?

  1. A
    It infers that any plan failing to revitalize the downtown district must have lacked incentives for small businesses.
  2. B
    It relies on an ambiguous use of the term 'revitalize' throughout the course of the reasoning.
  3. C
    It assumes that what is true of a specific provision within the redevelopment plan must be true of the plan as a whole.
  4. It treats a condition that is necessary for a particular outcome as though it were sufficient to guarantee that outcome.Answer
  5. E
    It takes for granted that a factor merely accompanying the revitalization of a district is the primary cause of that revitalization.

Answer

It treats a condition that is necessary for a particular outcome as though it were sufficient to guarantee that outcome.
The author establishes that including substantial financial incentives is a requirement (a necessary condition) for a redevelopment plan to revitalize the downtown district. The author then observes that the city council's plan includes these incentives and concludes that the plan will therefore be successful. This confuses a condition that is required for a result with a condition that guarantees the result.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the argument's main conclusion.
The conclusion is: 'the council's plan is certain to successfully revitalize the downtown district.'
Isolating the conclusion is necessary to understand the claim the author is trying to prove.
2
Analyze the premises supporting the conclusion.
The first premise states that revitalization occurs 'only if' there are financial incentives. The second premise states that the council's plan includes these financial incentives.
Understanding the precise wording of the premises helps reveal the conditional relationship (A only if B).
3
Evaluate the logical connection between the premises and conclusion.
The phrase 'only if' introduces a necessary condition. The author proves the necessary condition is met, and mistakenly concludes that the sufficient condition (revitalization) is guaranteed to happen.
Identifying this gap reveals the classic necessary versus sufficient condition flaw, commonly known as an illegal reversal.

Key Concept

Necessary vs. Sufficient Condition Flaws
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Necessary vs. Sufficient Condition Flaws

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