Dear Mr Cothran,
I am an adult student who did not have the benefit of a Classical Education; in addition, I am foreigner who learned English as an adult. I was studying for the LSAT (law school admission exam) and failing miserably. I could not understand conditional reasoning. Fortunately, I came across your books: Traditional Logic I and II. I sat down for 3 days straight and covered all the DVDs. I can't tell you how much I have learned and improved. I am so grateful. Thank you so very much. I do have a question. I am struggling with questions that involve assumptions. You cover implicit (unstated) assumptions in chapter 6 of the second book (Enthymemes). However, the arguments in the LSAT are very complex and I am having trouble identifying the unstated premise (see sample below).
Do you happen to know a good resource to study assumptions and more specifically implicit/unstated assumptions?
Do you have any helpful resources that I could purchase from Memoria Press?
Maybe you are familiar with a teacher on the west coast with expertise in this subject matter? I live in CA (between LA and San Diego)
You have no idea how grateful I am. I am going to purchase the book on material logic as well as the one about rhetoric. Also, I am disseminating your wonderful materials with all my friends and relatives.
Many, many thanks in advance for your kind response.
God bless you.
LSAT sample assumption question:
Caffeine can kill or inhibit the growth of the larvae of several species of insects. One recent experiment showed that tobacco hornworm larvae die when they ingest a preparation that consists, in part of finely powdered tea leaves, which contain caffeine. This result is evidence for the hypothesis that the presence of non-negligible quantities of caffeine in various parts of many diverse species of plants is not accidental but evolved as a defense for those plants. The argument assumes that ..... ( and then there are 5 choices)
I am an adult student who did not have the benefit of a Classical Education; in addition, I am foreigner who learned English as an adult. I was studying for the LSAT (law school admission exam) and failing miserably. I could not understand conditional reasoning. Fortunately, I came across your books: Traditional Logic I and II. I sat down for 3 days straight and covered all the DVDs. I can't tell you how much I have learned and improved. I am so grateful. Thank you so very much. I do have a question. I am struggling with questions that involve assumptions. You cover implicit (unstated) assumptions in chapter 6 of the second book (Enthymemes). However, the arguments in the LSAT are very complex and I am having trouble identifying the unstated premise (see sample below).
Do you happen to know a good resource to study assumptions and more specifically implicit/unstated assumptions?
Do you have any helpful resources that I could purchase from Memoria Press?
Maybe you are familiar with a teacher on the west coast with expertise in this subject matter? I live in CA (between LA and San Diego)
You have no idea how grateful I am. I am going to purchase the book on material logic as well as the one about rhetoric. Also, I am disseminating your wonderful materials with all my friends and relatives.
Many, many thanks in advance for your kind response.
God bless you.
LSAT sample assumption question:
Caffeine can kill or inhibit the growth of the larvae of several species of insects. One recent experiment showed that tobacco hornworm larvae die when they ingest a preparation that consists, in part of finely powdered tea leaves, which contain caffeine. This result is evidence for the hypothesis that the presence of non-negligible quantities of caffeine in various parts of many diverse species of plants is not accidental but evolved as a defense for those plants. The argument assumes that ..... ( and then there are 5 choices)
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