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Question

Difficulty: HardFalse Dilemma (False Dichotomy)

City Planner: To address the severe budget deficit in the municipal transportation department, we must immediately reduce the frequency of bus services on all major routes. The transit union has proposed an alternative: increasing the city's general sales tax to subsidize the department. However, macroeconomic data clearly demonstrates that any increase in the sales tax at this time would suppress local retail spending, which the city relies on for its baseline revenue. Since we cannot afford to suppress retail spending, the drastic cuts to bus service frequencies must be implemented.

The reasoning in the city planner's argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it does which one of the following?

  1. A
    takes for granted that a measure sufficient to eliminate the budget deficit is logically required to eliminate it
  2. overlooks the possibility that there are ways to resolve the budget deficit other than the transit union's proposal and reducing bus servicesAnswer
  3. C
    infers that a sales tax increase will cause a decrease in retail spending based merely on a statistical correlation between the two
  4. D
    relies on an illicit shift in the meaning of the word 'afford' from a strictly financial sense to a broader economic sense
  5. E
    appeals to macroeconomic data about retail spending that is irrelevant to the specific financial condition of the transportation department

Answer

The argument is flawed because it overlooks the possibility that there are ways to resolve the budget deficit other than the transit union's proposal and reducing bus services.
The city planner argues that because one specific alternative to cutting bus services (increasing the sales tax) is unviable, the city must cut bus services. This argument is a classic false dilemma. It assumes without justification that there are only two possible solutions to the budget deficit: reducing bus services or increasing the general sales tax. By eliminating the tax increase, the planner concludes that service cuts are mandatory, completely ignoring other potential solutions (e.g., increasing bus fares, securing federal grants, or implementing a targeted transit tax). The correct answer accurately identifies this failure to consider other alternatives.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the structure of the city planner's argument.
The argument sets up a scenario to address a budget deficit, rejects one alternative (a sales tax increase), and concludes that the original plan (bus service cuts) must be adopted.
Understanding the argument's premises and conclusion is strictly necessary to evaluate its logical validity.
2
Identify the logical gap or flaw in the reasoning.
The planner concludes that bus service cuts are strictly necessary simply because one specific alternative is unviable.
This structural pattern reveals a reliance on an unstated assumption.
3
Characterize the unstated assumption.
The argument assumes that cutting bus services and raising the sales tax are the absolute only two possible ways to address the transportation budget deficit.
If other alternatives existed, rejecting the sales tax increase would not prove that bus service cuts are mandatory.
4
Select the option that accurately describes this flaw.
The correct option points out that the argument overlooks other possible solutions to the deficit.
This accurately defines the False Dilemma (or False Dichotomy) fallacy committed in the stimulus.

Key Concept

False Dilemma (False Dichotomy)
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Topics

False Dilemma (False Dichotomy)

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