PT39 S4 Q23 Forum

[Hemenway]

I can see why answer choices A, B, C, and E don't work.
How come D is the credited response? It seems as though it reverses the conditional relationship found in the stimulus...

[bp shinners]

I can see why answer choices A, B, C, and E don't work.
How come D is the credited response? It seems as though it reverses the conditional relationship found in the stimulus...

So this question breaks down as:
Maximum total utility is assured only in a pure free market economy
or
MTUA -> Free market

From this, we conclude that a country without a free market economy (and not trying to make one) is not acting in the way most likely to bring about max. total utility.

So if we can successfully transition to a free market economy, we'd be assured max. total utility. But that's adding in an extra step - transitioning to a free market economy. We don't know anything about the pitfalls in that transition - maybe Communististan would definitely collapse during that transition, thus making it a poor way to get to maximum total utility. I know there are other ways to get there (the argument tells me that other types of economies might be able to achieve it).

So if I have a pure free market economy, my chances of maximum total utility are 100%.
If I don't have a pure free market economy, my chances of maximum total utility are less than 100% - which could be 99%, or it could be 1%.
But I don't know anything about the success rate of an economy switching to a pure free market economy - that might be .00001%. If that's the case, then switching would not be the way most likely to bring about maximum total utility even if my chances of hitting it are 100% after a successful transition.

[Hemenway]

Thank you for your reply.

I am still confused on one point.

The stim says: Country w/ highly controlled economy (+ not trying to make PFM economy) -> ~acting in way that is most likely to bring MTU

Answer choice D) says: Trying to make PFM economy -> acting in way that is most likely to bring MTU

Isn't TCR a mistaken negation of the information found in the stimulus? I thought the word "must" indicates a necessary condition...

[bp shinners]

Thank you for your reply.

I am still confused on one point.

The stim says: Country w/ highly controlled economy (+ not trying to make PFM economy) -> ~acting in way that is most likely to bring MTU

Answer choice D) says: Trying to make PFM economy -> acting in way that is most likely to bring MTU

Isn't TCR a mistaken negation of the information found in the stimulus? I thought the word "must" indicates a necessary condition...

You're too wrapped up in trying to diagram this one out. For a flaw question, I'm not expecting my answer choices to be mistaken negations/contrapositives/etc... - I'm expecting them to describe problems with the argument. It might describe a mistaken negation, but that would mean that it's pointing out the argument committed one, not that the answer choice is committing one itself.

I also wouldn't be looking to diagram out the answer choices unless I'm committing a sufficient/necessary fallacy in the stimulus - in this case, the argument isn't doing that. The fallacy here is a bad assumption - not one that I'd really qualify under a standard fallacy. (D) points out that bad assumption - in this case, that attempting to bring about a sufficient condition for an outcome is the most likely way to achieve that outcome.

[Hemenway]

Got it, thank you so much!