Three Logical Features of Conditional Reasoning

Conditional Reasoning statements have several unique features that you must
know. When considering the diagram above, remember the following:
1. The sufficient condition does not make the necessary condition occur.
That is, the sufficient condition does not actively cause the necessary
condition to happen. That form of reasoning is known as Causal
Reasoning, which will be discussed in Chapter Eight. Instead, in a
conditional statement the occurrence of the sufficient condition is a
sign or indicator that the necessary condition will occur, is occurring,
or has already occurred. In our discussion example, the occurrence of
someone receiving an A+ is a sign that indicates that studying must
also have occurred. The A+ does not make the studying occur.
2. Temporally speaking, either condition can occur first, or the two
conditions can occur at the same time. In our discussion example, the
necessary condition (studying) would most logically occur first.
Depending on the example, the sufficient condition could occur first.
3. The conditional relationship stated by the author does not have to
reflect reality. This point may help some students who thought that our
diagram might be backwards. Some people read the statement and
think, “studying would logically lead to an A+, so studying is the
sufficient condition.” As reasonable as that may sound, that way of
thinking is incorrect because it does not reflect what the author said,
but rather what you think of what the author said. Your job is not to
figure out what sounds reasonable, but rather to perfectly capture the
meaning of the author’s sentence.