Question

An argument is given below, on the basis of that argument; find out the parallel argument from the given list of subsequent arguments.

Argument: Himalayan Sparrows are disappearing. This bird is an Indian bird; therefore, Indian birds are disappearing.

Subsequent Arguments:

• A. Industrialists pay most of the taxes. 'Z' is a wealthy man therefore 'Z' must pay most taxes
• B. A pineapple is a fruit, a mango is a fruit therefore pineapple is a mango
• C. Snow tigers are an endangered species; all endangered species must be protected; therefore snow-tiger must be protected
• D. John is his father's favorite son, and John knows this must be true because his father told him this; and no father would lie to his favorite son

Hint:

Replace the nouns with letters and compare skeletons. Look for the option where two true statements about class membership are forced into a conclusion the premises cannot support.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
A parallel argument question does not ask which option sounds similar in subject matter. It asks which option has the same logical skeleton, including the same mistake if the given argument contains one. So the first job is to strip the argument down to its form.

Step 2: Reduce the given argument to its form:
Premise 1: Himalayan Sparrows are disappearing.
Premise 2: The Himalayan Sparrow is an Indian bird, so it is one member of the wider class of Indian birds.
Conclusion: Indian birds are disappearing.
Written in the abstract: A has a property. A belongs to class B. So all of B has the property.
The fault is plain. Only one kind of bird inside the class is disappearing, yet the conclusion is thrown over the entire class. Two categorical statements are used to force an unjustified link between the two outer terms.

Step 3: Test each option against that form:
(A) Industrialists pay most of the taxes. Z is a wealthy man, so Z must pay most taxes. The premises never say Z is an industrialist. "Wealthy man" and "industrialist" are two different terms with nothing joining them, so this argument has no shared middle at all. It is a four term jump, not the same skeleton. It also runs the wrong way, from a whole group down to one person, whereas the given argument runs from one member up to the whole group.
(B) A pineapple is a fruit, a mango is a fruit, therefore pineapple is a mango. Two categorical premises, both true, are used to draw a conclusion about the two outer terms that simply does not follow. Sharing a class does not make the two members the same, exactly as one member of a class disappearing does not make the class disappear. This is the same shape of error: an invalid categorical conclusion pulled out of two innocent premises about class membership.
(C) Snow tigers are an endangered species; all endangered species must be protected; therefore snow tigers must be protected. This one is valid. The property attaches to the whole class and is then applied to a member of it, which is legitimate. A valid argument cannot be parallel to a faulty one.
(D) John is his father's favourite son, and John knows this because his father told him, and no father would lie to his favourite son. This assumes the conclusion inside the reason, which is circular reasoning. It is a completely different flaw.

Step 4: Final Answer:
Option (B) mirrors the structure of the given argument most closely, so the answer is option (B).