If you drive when you could walk somewhere, then you're releasing unneccessary greenhouse gases. If you release greenhouse gases unnecessarily, then global temperatures will rise. So, you shouldn't drive when you could walk somewhere.

No dead language can be read. Latin is a dead language. Therefore, no one can read Latin.

I don’t like any coffee because some coffee tastes bitter and I don’t like anything that tastes bitter.

QUESTION 1

Put the argument from the following passage into standard form and construct an argument map diagram. There is no need to include unstated premises (assumptions) in your answer.  

(17 marks)

Australia should take on more refugees. These people would not have left their countries if they didn't have a good reason to. Nobody wants to leave behind everything they know. And Australia has plenty of land to accommodate a higher population.

QUESTION 7

Evaluate the following extended argument. Identify the main problem(s) with the argument, explain why they are problems, and clearly state whether you think the argument provides a compelling reason to accept the conclusion. You may find it useful to put the argument into standard form and to draw an argument map but you should only submit your written evaluation. You may use the following template as a guide to structuring your response.

 (25 marks)

Are Julian Assange and WikiLeaks really doing anything that unusual? After all, leaks are a legitimate part of contemporary journalism; nobody objects when cabinet discussions are leaked during a general election for example. The diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks were first given to the mainstream press, who vetted the documents for sensitive or risky information. WikiLeaks only published the edited cables. WikiLeaks even asked the US State Department for help editing risky documents, a practice common when the press deals with classified material. WikiLeaks is therefore legitimate journalism, which makes recent actions by the U.S. government particularly disturbing.

Chris Berg is a research fellow with the Institute of Public Affairs.

(ii) Babies cry when they are hungry and when they are in pain. My baby is crying, so he must be hungry or in pain.

QUESTION 3

Put the following argument into standard form and identify at least one unstated premise (assumption) that is required by the argument.

(7 marks)

No computer will ever be able to do everything that some human minds can do, for there are some problems that cannot be solved by following any set of mechanically applicable rules. Yet computers can only solve problems by following some set of mechanically applicable rules.

QUESTION 6

Assuming the premises in the following argument are true, do they support the causal conclusion? Explain your answer.

(10 marks)

A study looked at group of 250 children aged 8-11 years old who had been diagnosed with extreme behavioural problems such as violent tantrums. The children were given art therapy over a period of six weeks. At the end of the six week period, independent observers assessed the children and only 50 of them (20%) showed behavioural problems. The researchers concluded that art therapy can play a significant role in reducing behavioural problems in children.

QUESTION 4

Read the passage below. Comment on whether you accept the claims for which the author, Kevin Stock, is cited as an authority. Specifically,

(a) identify the main claim(s) which Kevin Stock's authority is being used to support

(b) state whether you would accept the claim(s) on the source’s word and explain your answer

(10 marks)

Over the last several weeks, I’ve been curious how much I am contributing to global warming by adopting a carnivorous diet. So I dug in, read and researched, and here, report my findings.

There are 2 sides to the equation. There is the carbon we release through emissions like transportation and energy production. Then there is carbon which is taken out of the atmosphere and stored in what are known as carbon sinks. The problem is we’re emitting more and more carbon and sequestering less.

By cutting down forest, plowing land, and overgrazing pastures we destroy carbon sinks especially the soils which stores more carbon than all vegetation and the atmosphere combined. Over 2/3rd of the planet’s land is desertifying — turning grasslands into desert and destroying soil. When livestock like cattle, sheep, and goats overgraze on plants they leave the soil bare and cause desertification. And this is really the main reason meat has been linked to global warming. Animals destroy the soil.

But this confused me. Just a couple centuries ago, between 30–60 million bison roamed North America — so it should be one big desert — but it isn’t. Thanks to a guy named Alan Savory he figured out the paradox. Grazers like bison protect themselves in the wild by forming herds. A key component of herds is that they keep moving. They trample the soil then move on. This natural phenomenon prevented overgrazing of plants as well as provided good coverage of the soil. As Allan Savory discovered when we mimic nature and herd these grazers, let them trample and then move them along…desertification reverses and grasslands reform and soil health returns. It’s estimated that if we use this holistic approach of planned grazing to just half the world’s grasslands we can go back to pre-industrial carbon levels, reverse climate change, and feed the world.

So animals are not to blame for climate change, on the contrary they are a vital part in the solution to restoring our carbon sinks and saving us all from a heat death.

Adapted from Meat and Global Warming, written by Dr Kevin Stock, Published on Medium, May 2, 2018

Background Information on Dr Kevin Stock:

Dr Kevin Stock is a strict carnivore and self-experimental researcher, passionate about health and fitness. He was the founder, CEO of both Muscle Science and Meat Health which provides online health and fitness education including advocating a meat based diet. He is a national level physique competitor. Kevin Stock completed a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) at the UMKC school of dentistry and began his professional career as a Dental Sleep Medicine doctor. He specialised in treating Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) in his private practice. From there he invented the NED Device, an intranasal device designed to treat snoring and OSA.

QUESTION 5

Read the passage below. Identify the sample, population and target property used in the study and comment on whether the evidence presented supports the conclusions drawn by the researchers.

(10 marks)

A questionnaire about study habits was given to a random sample of students taking a large introductory philosophy unit at Monash University. The sample of 50 students reported that they spent on average 90 minutes per week studying for the unit outside class. It was calculated that the margin of error due to sampling variation for this estimate was plus or minus 6 minutes. Therefore, we can be reasonably confident that the true average amount of time students spent studying for this unit outside class is between 84 and 96 minutes per week.