A
The social impact of the new antihistamine is much better understood than that of most new drugs being tested.
B
The social impact of some of the new drugs being tested is poorly understood.
C
The economic success of some drugs is inversely proportional to how well we understand their social impact.
D
The new antihistamine is chemically similar to some of the new drugs being tested.
E
The new antihistamine should be on the market only if most new drugs being tested should be on the market also.
Sales manager: The highest priority should be given to the needs of the sales department, because without successful sales the company as a whole would fail.
Shipping manager: There are several departments other than sales that also must function successfully for the company to succeed. It is impossible to give the highest priority to all of them.
Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
The sales manager concludes that the highest priority should be given to the sales department, because the company would fail without successful sales.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The shipping manager counters the sales manager’s argument by showing that he makes an unreasonable assumption. The sales manager assumes that the sales department should be given highest priority because it’s necessary to the company’s success. But the shipping manager points out that many departments are necessary, and giving them all the top priority would be impossible and illogical.
A
that the sales department taken by itself is not critical to the company’s success as a whole
The shipping manager never refutes the claim that the sales department is necessary to the company’s success. She just says that there are other departments that are also necessary to its success.
B
the ambiguity of the term “highest priority”
The shipping manager doesn't make this mistake; she uses the term “highest priority” consistently throughout her argument.
C
that departments other than sales are more vital to the company’s success
The shipping manager never claims that other departments are more important than sales; she just claims that there are other departments that are also necessary to the company’s success.
D
an absurd consequence of its apparent assumption that a department’s necessity earns it the highest priority
The sales manager assumes that a department’s necessity earns it the highest priority. The shipping manager points out an absurd consequence of this assumption by saying that there are many necessary departments, and it makes no sense to give everyone the highest priority.
E
that the sales manager makes a generalization from an atypical case
The shipping manager doesn’t argue that the sales manager makes a generalization from an atypical case. If anything, she argues that the sales department’s necessity is not an atypical case, because there are many necessary departments.
People who have political power tend to see new technologies as a means of extending or protecting their power, whereas they generally see new ethical arguments and ideas as a threat to it. Therefore, technical ingenuity usually brings benefits to those who have this ingenuity, whereas ethical inventiveness brings only pain to those who have this inventiveness.
The author concludes two things:
(1) People with technical ingenuity are usually rewarded for that ingenuity. Why? Because the politically powerful tend to view new technologies as useful for reinforcing their own power.
(2) People with ethical inventiveness are only ever punished for that inventiveness. Why? Because the politically powerful tend to view new ethical ideas as a threat to their power.
The author makes two key assumptions:
(1) When people with political power view something as useful for reinforcing their own power (i.e., new technologies), the people responsible (i.e., those with technical ingenuity) somehow benefit.
(2) When people with political power view something as a threat to their power (i.e., new ethical ideas), the people responsible (i.e., those with ethical inventiveness) somehow always suffer.