Question 1

A good explanation accounts for all of the relevant facts, but may create more puzzles than it solves.

Accepted Answer

A good explanation should take into account all relevant facts and evidence, but it may also highlight areas that require further exploration or clarification. By addressing all of the available information, a good explanation can help to identify new questions and problems to be solved. In this way, explanations are not necessarily meant to provide complete closure, but rather to offer insight and understanding that can inform future inquiry.

Question 2

Hume understood causation to merely be a ______________ of events.&#10;A) lack&#10;B) constant conjunction&#10;C) elimination&#10;D) lot

Accepted Answer

Hume believed that causation was not a necessary connection between events, but rather just the observation of constant conjunction between them. In other words, when we see event A followed by event B on multiple occasions, we assume that A causes B, but there is no necessary connection between the two events.

Question 3

For which of the following is it important to understand cause?&#10;A) providing explanations&#10;B) making predictions&#10;C) assigning responsibility&#10;D) all of the above

Accepted Answer

Understanding cause is important for all three purposes listed. Providing explanations requires understanding the causes behind a certain phenomenon; making predictions involves identifying the causes that will produce a certain outcome; and assigning responsibility requires understanding the causes behind a particular event or situation to determine who or what is responsible.

Question 4

Two events that are correlated, but not causally related, are&#10;A) coincidental&#10;B) simple&#10;C) overrated&#10;D) none of the above

Accepted Answer

When two events appear to be related but are not causally related, it is often due to coincidence or chance. Therefore, the best choice is A) coincidental.

Question 5

When something is needed to bring about something else, but is not good enough to bring it about by itself, it is considered&#10;A) sufficient&#10;B) absolute&#10;C) irrelevant&#10;D) necessary

Accepted Answer

The word "needed" implies that this is a situation where something must happen in order for something else to happen. If it is "not good enough to bring it about by itself," then it means that there is something else that is required in addition to it. This means that the thing in question is necessary, but not sufficient on its own.

Question 6

When one offers an unjustified chain of events, that person is&#10;A) reversing the cause and effect&#10;B) offering a slippery slope&#10;C) confusing the effect for the cause&#10;D) none of the above

Accepted Answer

Offering a slippery slope involves creating a chain of events without providing evidence or justification for why each event will lead to the next. This can be used to make an argument seem more compelling than it actually is.

Deck 7: Inductive Argument Causal Reasoning