That it is impossible to foretell the future is easily demonstrated.

Question

That it is impossible to foretell the future is easily demonstrated. For if a person should foresee being injured by a mill wheel on the next day, the person would cancel the trip to the mill and remain at home in bed. Since the injury the next day by the mill wheel would not occur, it cannot in any way be said that the future has been foretold.

Which of the following best explains the weakness in this argument?

Which of the following best explains the weakness in this argument?

(A) The author fails to explain how one could actually change the future.

(B) The author uses the word future in two different ways.

(C) The author does not explain how anyone could foresee the future.

(D) The argument is internally inconsistent.

(E) The argument is circular.

Mavisdu1017 · Answer

What is the 2 different ways of “future”? I can’t realize. Anybody can understand?

007mva · Answer

Future is not necessarily next day in my understanding.

BlueDefender · Answer

I suspected D) that the argument is internally inconsistent, because the argument fails to take into account or to rule out the possibility that all the instances in which injuries have not occurred have been foretold as they are never recorded. 
I might be getting lost in semantics. I don't know what an internally inconsistent argument implies.

guddo · Answer

That it is impossible to foretell the future is easily demonstrated. For if a person should foresee being injured by a mill wheel on the next day, the person would cancel the trip to the mill and remain at home in bed. Since the injury the next day by the mill wheel would not occur, it cannot in any way be said that the future has been foretold.

Which of the following best explains the weakness in this argument?

Which of the following best explains the weakness in this argument?

The author claims you cannot predict the future because if someone foresaw an injury at the mill tomorrow, they would stay home, so the injury would not happen, and therefore the future was not really foretold.

(A) The author fails to explain how one could actually change the future.

The argument does give a way the outcome changes, the person cancels the trip. So this is not the weakness.

(B) The author uses the word future in two different ways.

This is the weakness. The author treats the future as both  fixed and changeable , switching between (1) what would happen if the person went to the mill and (2) what actually happens after the prediction changes the person’s choice. That switch is the core flaw, it is a kind of  self defeating prediction  setup, not proof that prediction is impossible.

(C) The author does not explain how anyone could foresee the future.

Not the weakness. The argument is about logic, not about the mechanism of foreseeing.

(D) The argument is internally inconsistent.

The reasoning is questionable, but “internally inconsistent” is too vague here. The specific problem is the shift in what “the future” refers to, which (B) captures directly.

(E) The argument is circular.

Not circular. The conclusion is not assumed in a premise.

Answer: (B)

Edskore · Answer

Step-by-Step Solution

Step 1: Understand the argument's main point: The author wants to show that it's impossible to predict the future.

Step 2: Analyze the example: The author says if you *knew* you'd be hurt by a mill wheel, you'd avoid it. Because you'd avoid it, the injury wouldn't happen, so you *couldn't* have truly foretold that specific future event.

Step 3: Identify the trick: The argument plays on the word 'future.' It first uses 'future' to mean a specific event that *will* happen (getting hurt). Then, it uses 'future' to mean a hypothetical outcome based on your knowledge (avoiding the injury). The problem is that by acting on the 'foretold' future, you change it, and then say the original prediction was wrong.

Step 4: Look for the best explanation of this trick: Option B correctly points out that the word 'future' is used in two different senses, creating the confusion and making the argument weak.

Answer:The author uses the word future in two different ways.

That it is impossible to foretell the future is easily demonstrated.

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That it is impossible to foretell the future is easily demonstrated.

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