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Difficulty: Very hardIdentifying Necessary Assumptions

Historian: The collapse of the Bronze Age civilization of Alashiya was long attributed to a massive earthquake. However, sediment core analyses reveal a multi-decade drought immediately preceding the collapse. Furthermore, contemporaneous administrative tablets show an abrupt shift from recording luxury trade to issuing frantic requests for grain. Therefore, the collapse was fundamentally driven by climatological resource scarcity rather than sudden seismic activity.

Evaluate the following statement as true or false regarding the argument above:
The statement 'The abrupt shift in the administrative tablets to requests for grain was not primarily a response to agricultural devastation wrought by a sudden earthquake' functions as a necessary assumption for the historian's conclusion.

Answer: Answer

Answer

True. The statement functions as a necessary assumption because its logical negation directly destroys the historian's conclusion.
The statement correctly identifies a required condition for the historian's argument. Without this assumption, the evidence (grain requests) could be hijacked to support the opposing theory (the earthquake), collapsing the entire causal argument.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the premises and the main conclusion of the historian's argument.
Premises: A drought preceded the collapse, and tablets show frantic requests for grain. Conclusion: The collapse was fundamentally driven by climatological resource scarcity rather than a sudden earthquake.
To evaluate an assumption, one must first isolate exactly what the author is trying to prove and the specific evidence used to prove it.
2
Analyze the logical gap connecting the evidence to the conclusion.
The author assumes that the grain requests (resource scarcity) point to the drought. The gap is the assumption that the competing theory (the earthquake) did not cause the grain requests.
Recognizing vulnerabilities in causal arguments is essential for identifying 'Defender' assumptions that rule out alternate explanations.
3
Apply the Negation Technique to the provided statement.
The logical negation is: 'The abrupt shift in the tablets to requests for grain WAS primarily a response to agricultural devastation wrought by a sudden earthquake.'
The Negation Technique is the definitive test for a necessary assumption. If the negated statement destroys the argument, the original statement is necessary.
4
Evaluate the impact of the negated statement on the argument.
If the grain requests were indeed caused by the earthquake, then the earthquake (not the climate) fundamentally drove the collapse. The conclusion is destroyed.
Since the negated version collapses the argument, the original statement is strictly required for the argument to hold.

Key Concept

Identifying Necessary Assumptions (Defender Model)
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Topics

Identifying Necessary Assumptions

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