Question #1432

Diagramming assistance

Started by awashing · started 2016-11-27 21:33 · last activity 2019-12-24 22:34 · 2 replies

I've diagrammed this statement as PS - >AM or R. The contrapositive of the statement being Not AM and R - >not PS. I chose A rather than E because the statement seemed to be presuming Not AM or R, which goes against the contrapositive that I diagrammed. E makes sense reading it again but I would appreciate assistance in thinking through that option.

Replies

  1. Mehran · 2016-12-01 21:55

    @awashing let's break down the stimulus. "If the play were successful, it would be adapted as a movie or revived at the Decade Festival." PR: S ==> AM or RDF not AM & not RDF ==> not S "But it is not successful." P: "not S" "We must, regrettably, conclude that it will neither become a movie nor be revived at the Decade Festival." C: "not AM & not RDF" The flaw here is that the author is taking the non-existence of the sufficient condition to conclude the non-existence of the necessary condition. But we know that you DON'T JUST NEGATE! Stated another way, the author is mistaking sufficient for necessary as follows: PR: AM or RDF ==> S not S ==> not AM & not RDF P: not S C: not AM & not RDF As such, (E) would be the correct answer choice, i.e. there could be alternative sufficient conditions other than S that lead to AM or RDF. Hope that helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions.

  2. Mark-Livecchi · 2019-12-24 22:34

    I was with MEhran until the very last sentence. Could you please give an example of an alternative sufficient condition or am I Overthinking it. I narrowed it down to A vs E.

Sign in to reply.