"The Only"
Started by
tomgbean
· started 2019-12-25 23:57
· last activity 2020-01-07 03:13
· 2 replies
Hi, Doesn't "The Only" introduces sufficient? That is what the book says....So wouldn't "the only deans that academics respect are deans that hold doctoral degrees" be diagrammed as such?
DAR (deans academics respect) ------->HDD (hold doctoral degrees). This changes the deductions you can make on this question..is the book wrong?
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tomgbean
· 2019-12-26 00:08
Holding a doctoral degree is a necessary condition, not sufficient for being respected. this makes A not follow logically.
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shunhe
· 2020-01-07 03:13
Hi @tomgbean,
Yes, you're correct in writing that "The only" introduces a sufficient clause, and your diagram is correct as well: DAR - > HDD. But (A) still follows logically. To briefly diagram the rest of the premises, we have:
DC = Dean of Computing
COUC = competent to oversee use of computers
US = university's staff
RKAC = really knows about computers
CSD = computer science department
DAR and HDD are the same as you used them
DC - > DAR & COUC
DAR - > HDD
COUC - > RKAC
DC - > US
Conclusion: DC - > CSD
And by combining premises 1, 2, and 3, we can get
DC - > HDD, RKAC
DC - > US
And so we know that the Dean of Computing has to be on the university's staff, really know about computers, and have a doctoral degree. (A) tells us that there are people who aren't professors (and so can't be professors in the CS department either) who have doctoral degrees, are on staff, and really know about computers. Thus, it's not necessarily the case that the Dean of Computing comes from the CS Department, and that weakens the argument, so (A) is right. Hope this helps!
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