The following dialogue contains at least fifteen arguments. Translate each into symbolic notation, and then interpret them in light of the eight argument forms presented in this section.

A Little Help from a Friend

“I can only talk for a minute,” Liz says to her friend Amy. “I have this bio midterm tomorrow, and I’m afraid I’m going to fail it.”

“Okay,” Amy replies. “I’ll cut out after a minute or two. But why are you so afraid?”
“Because I really haven’t studied at all. I figure if I don’t pull an all-nighter, I’ll fail the test. But I can’t fail the test, so I must pull the all-nighter.”

“I don’t envy you,” says Amy, digging in her purse. “But I have this little tablet of Adderall that might get you through. As I see it, either you take the tab or you’ll fall asleep by midnight. But you can’t fall asleep, so you must take the tab.”

Liz stares at the little orange pill. “Adderall is for attention deficit disorder. You don’t have that, do you?”

“No,” says Amy. “I got the tab from my boyfriend, Zach, who talked the health clinic out of a whole bottle by faking ADD.”

“Wow,” says Liz. “Do you think it’s safe for me to take it?”
“Of course,” replies Amy. “Zach takes it all the time when he needs an extra spurt of energy, and he’s had no adverse reactions. I’ve even tried it once or twice. If it’s safe for Zach, then it’s safe for me, and if it’s safe for me, then it’s safe for you. The conclusion is obvious.”

“And do you really think the Adderall will help me pass the test?” asks Liz.
“Absolutely,” says Amy. “If you take it, you’ll be totally focused for the test, and you must be focused. Hence, you take it, girl.”

“I don’t know,” Liz says as she takes a closer look at the little pill. “If I take it, then I’ll feel like an athlete who takes performance-enhancing drugs. I’ll feel like I’m putting myself at an unfair advantage over the other students. I don’t want to do that, so maybe I shouldn’t take it.”

She thinks for a moment and sighs. “Either I take the Adderall or I don’t. If I take it, I’ll feel like I cheated, but if I don’t take it, I’ll fail the test. Thus, I’ll feel like I cheated, or I’ll fail the test. Either way, I lose.”

Amy smiles. “There’s another way of looking at it. Either you take the Adderall or you don’t. If you take it, you’ll pass the test, and if you don’t take it, you’ll have a clear conscience. Thus, you’ll either pass the test or you’ll have a clear conscience. Either way, you win.”

“Very clever,” says Liz, “but that really doesn’t solve my problem.”
“Okay,” says Amy. “But maybe your problem isn’t as bad as you think. Consider this: Older people take drugs all the time to help their memory and their sex lives. If it’s okay for them to take those drugs—and it is—then it’s okay for you to take the Adderall. You shouldn’t sweat it.”

“That’s true,” says Liz, “but those older people suffer from a medical condition. If I had ADD, I’d be justified in taking the Adderall, but I don’t. So I’m not justified.”
“Let’s look at it another way,” says Amy. “You could get through the night with lots of coffee and Red Bull. If it’s okay to drink coffee and Red Bull—and it is—then it’s okay to take the Adderall. The conclusion is clear.”

“Not quite,” says Liz. “Coffee and Red Bull aren’t really comparable to Adderall—at least not if it’s as good as you say it is. Suppose that I’m faced with this option: Either I drink lots of coffee and Red Bull, or I take the Adderall. I would say no to the coffee and Red Bull because it’s less effective, and it leaves me frazzled. Thus, I would take the Adderall. See, the two are not the same.”

“Maybe not,” says Amy, “but think about it this way. We take advantage of new technology every day without giving it a second thought. We use smartphones instead of landlines because they’re more convenient. We use lightbulbs instead of candles because we see better with them. And we use Adderall instead of coffee because it makes us sharper. If it’s ethically okay to use smartphones, then it’s okay to use Adderall; and it’s certainly okay to use smartphones—just as it’s okay to use lightbulbs. Hence, it’s okay to use Adderall.”

“The problem with that line of reasoning,” Liz observes, “is that using lightbulbs and smartphones doesn’t put anyone at a competitive advantage. Everyone uses them, so we’re all on an equal footing. But not every student uses Adderall to pass a test. If everyone used it, I would have no problem with it. But not everyone uses it, so I do have a problem.”

“I can see your point,” Amy says. “At fifteen or twenty bucks a pop on the underground market, not every student can afford Adderall. If it were cheap, then everyone would use it. But it’s not cheap, so many students don’t.”

Amy smiles again at her friend. “Messy stuff,” she says. “So, what do you think you’ll do?”
“I don’t know.” Liz groans and puts her face in her hands. “But leave that tab on my desk. I’ll see how it goes. . . . I’ll give myself until midnight.”