Need explanation and type of Flaw
Started by
Rob Dixon
· started 2013-10-08 14:48
· last activity 2019-10-29 22:45
· 9 replies
I got this answer through process-of-elimination, and yet I do not understand which error in reasoning that answer choice C describes. Could you explain?
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Naz
· 2013-10-11 16:16
This argument ignores the possibility that just because the goal of psychotherapy is to enhance people's ability to make choices, that it doesn't mean that the practice or results of it actually achieve that goal. Just because one has goal X doesn't necessarily mean that they will end up achieving this goal. Answer choice (C) clearly states how the possibility that "the practice or results of psychotherapy might run counter to its goals," have been overlooked.
Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
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durazno3
· 2017-04-01 20:26
I'm struggling with this one. Can you please break down the argument and answer choices? Thank you!
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Mehran
· 2017-04-21 06:38
@durazno3 @Naz's response directly above your post breaks down the logical fallacy in this argument and why (C) is the correct answer.
Please let us know if you have any specific questions on the other answer choices. Thanks!
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Ashley-Tien
· 2018-06-27 22:38
Why is D incorrect?
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Christopher
· 2018-06-28 12:47
@Ashley-Tien, while it gets close, (D) doesn't point out the logical flaw. (D) takes more of a moral tone of "the end justifies the means," while the question doesn't really go there. The problem with the argument is that it rests on the argument that since the goal of psychotherapy is not coercive then the practice of psychotherapy is not coercive, which isn't logically sound. The goal and practice of something can often be quite different. So the flaw of the argument is (C) since it recognizes that the practice of psychotherapy could possibly be coercive even though the goal of the practice is to reduce coercion. So the flaw is not that the end justifies the means, as (D) says, but that the "means" aren't necessarily the same thing as the "goal," as (C) says.
Does that help?
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Ashley-Tien
· 2018-09-28 18:30
how do you diagram "even if"? Is this sufficient or necessary?
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Mehran
· 2018-10-03 04:31
@Ashley-Tien no, "even if" would not be considered a conditional statement.
You generally encounter "even if" when disproving a general principle (i.e. negating a S & N by showing sufficient without necessary).
For example:
"If A, then B"
A ==> B
"A even if not B"
A ==> not B
Hope that helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions.
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hyerim309
· 2019-09-05 07:30
I read Naz's answer but my issue with this problem is that the argument makes a point in regards to the use of word "coercion" cannot be used to describe psychotherapy because it's very definition prevents people's ability to make choices, making it unattainable goal at all times (not sometimes unachievable). Could you tell me what it is I am not getting?
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Kath
· 2019-10-29 22:45
Is the difference between C and D is that C says "if the goal is right, then the result is good", while the D says "if the goal is good, then the means are good"? Right?
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