For each flawed argument presented in the first column, determine the primary reasoning error that it commits. Match each argumentative passage with the abstract description that most accurately identifies its underlying logical vulnerability.
- Paleoclimatologist: A sudden surge in atmospheric methane concentration is necessary for triggering a rapid transition out of a glacial maximum. Marine sediment cores indicate that atmospheric methane levels spiked drastically at the onset of the Bølling-Allerød interstadial period. Consequently, this dramatic increase in methane was sufficient on its own to precipitate the subsequent global warming.Treats a condition that is required for an outcome to occur as though it were by itself adequate to guarantee that outcome.
- Aviation Engineer: The composite fuselage designed for our experimental high-altitude glider is constructed entirely from ultra-lightweight carbon-fiber spars and flexible polymer skins. Because every individual spar and skin panel used in the airframe possesses high ductility and flexibility, the completed fuselage as an assembled structure will inherently remain flexible under turbulent aerodynamic stress.Presumes without justification that an overall structure must possess a physical characteristic simply because each of its individual components exhibits that characteristic.
- Epidemiologist: Over the past two decades, municipalities that enacted strict water fluoridation standards also documented a 30 percent decline in childhood dental caries. Since the implementation of these municipal standards preceded the recorded improvements in pediatric oral health, the water fluoridation policy was directly responsible for the reduction in caries.Infers a causal connection between two developments on the sole basis that one occurred earlier in time than the other.
- Corporate Litigator: The regulatory commission asserts that our client intentionally manipulated wholesale electricity markets by executing algorithmic cancellations of supply bids. However, the commission's chief investigator has previously published multiple academic treatises expressing hostility toward private utility operators. Thus, the commission's factual finding of intentional manipulation is demonstrably false.Rejects a substantive allegation exclusively by calling into question the personal disposition or background of an investigator involved in advancing it.
Answer
The argument regarding paleoclimatology matches the description of treating a necessary condition as sufficient; the argument regarding the aviation airframe matches the description of illicitly attributing properties of parts to the assembled whole; the argument regarding municipal fluoridation matches the description of inferring causation solely from temporal sequence; and the argument regarding the regulatory commission matches the description of rejecting an allegation based on investigator bias.
Each argument exemplifies a distinct, well-established flaw archetype tested on the LSAT: the paleoclimatologist confuses a necessary condition with a sufficient one; the aviation engineer assumes an aggregate shares all attributes of its parts; the epidemiologist equates temporal sequence with causal agency; and the corporate litigator attacks the author of an allegation rather than addressing the substance of the claim.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Classification of Standard Formal and Informal Reasoning Flaws
Estimated Time:2m 0s