Hi,

Does it suffice if i just mention the question number in OG or Do,I need to paste the entire question here.
Please do let me know.

The 123rd Question in CR section of Og's 11th edition confuses me.

In that ques how can an option which rules out any other plagues in
1100s strengthen the conclusion?

Asuume there was a plague in 1164 and the fouth historian mentions
about a one in 1148,how can this strengthen/Weakean the conclusion?

thanks,

Vasanth,

Instructors expect you to write the full question here, so that other people can get benefit too, also it helps them to answer the questions quickly.

Vasanth,

In the qsn the hypothesis -> the book was produced in 1148 , is based on the premise that there was no other plague(in any other year).

how else could one correlate a mention of the plague in a letter to the production's date ?

to explain further, assume there was one more(plague) in 1164 - it is quite possible that the author's allusion was to this one and not to the 1148's and consequently the hypothesis that the book was written in 1148 falls flat


OG Explanation :

Reading the OG explantion gave a better perspective


1: The fact that there were many authors - is taken as indicative of a major disaster that must have struck at the time of producing this book

2: A letter written in the same handwriting as the 4-th copy-write mentions the 1148 plague


based on the mention in 2 , it is assumed that 1 resulted

if there had been other plagues at say 1120 1130 1140 - it is possible that each of this calamity was behind the change in authors( at various points)

so the only way the inference is supported, is by the fact that there occurred just one outbreak.


Sankar


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Addl Mention:


In the below line( i wrote before reading the OG explanation)




i presumed the author just mentioned a plague and not the year


also, does not the term "production" include the time when it was completed ? what if the last and final part was written in 1164 and the letter written at that time mentions the 1148 thing ? :roll:

Sankar,

But,what if he wrote the about that plague of 1148,while being present in 1164 02 maybe even 1456?..Did I forget to read something inbetween
the lines..

thanks
Vasanth

First off, Vasanth is correct: the fourth copyist's letter specifically mentions the plague OF 1148.

Remember that the question does not ask for DEFINITIVE or CONCLUSIVE evidence - only SUPPORTING evidence. This is a very important distinction. If we can rule out the possibility of other, equally disruptive plagues in the same time period, then the theory assigning blame to the 1148 plague is strengthened. Again, it isn't proved - for all we know, the copyist may have been mentioning the plague with a hundred years' retrospect, and wasn't even alive at the time - but it's strengthened.