Company President: The union leaders argue that our factory workers deserve significantly better healthcare benefits because the company has experienced unprecedented growth over the last three fiscal years. However, this argument fundamentally misunderstands reality. Growth is strictly a biological process that involves cellular division and physical expansion over time. Because a manufacturing corporation is clearly not a living biological organism, it cannot possibly undergo growth. Therefore, the union's premise is completely unfounded.
Which one of the following most accurately describes a flaw in the company president's reasoning?
- AIt takes for granted that a statistical association between two phenomena proves a causal relationship.
- BIt incorrectly infers that a characteristic belonging to the parts of a corporation must also belong to the whole corporation.
- It trades on the use of a single term in two entirely different senses.Answer
- DIt mistakes a condition that is necessary for biological expansion for a condition that guarantees such expansion.
- EIt fails to distinguish between a subsidiary conclusion and the final conclusion of the union's argument.
Answer
The correct answer is the option stating that the argument trades on the use of a single term in two entirely different senses.
The correct answer accurately identifies the equivocation flaw. The union leaders use the word 'growth' in a common economic sense (e.g., increased revenue, expansion of operations), while the company president deliberately shifts the meaning to a strictly biological sense (cellular division) in order to dismiss the union's claim. Using one word to mean two fundamentally different things in the same argument is a classic logical fallacy known as equivocation.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Equivocation Fallacy