#17 - In practice the government will have the last word on

[eober]

Hi,

Is it sufficient to identify the conclusion sentence of the argument in this type of question, or should we express it as a main idea, which includes some information from the premises as well? So in this case the conclusion is "government's view is not necessarily the correct view". However, the premises also mention moral rights. Should we ignore the mention of moral rights in the premises and stick with the conclusion that we can identify in the argument?

Thank you!

[David Boyle]

Hi,

Is it sufficient to identify the conclusion sentence of the argument in this type of question, or should we express it as a main idea, which includes some information from the premises as well? So in this case the conclusion is "government's view is not necessarily the correct view". However, the premises also mention moral rights. Should we ignore the mention of moral rights in the premises and stick with the conclusion that we can identify in the argument?

Thank you!

Hello,

Both ways have good points. Identifying the conclusion is always helpful (especially when the question stem asks you for the conclusion!!), though padding it out a bit by adding "vis-a-vis moral rights" may not hurt.
It's always good to understand what the whole argument means, not just the conclusion.

David

[Mi Kal]

Hi,

Can you explain why "B" is the correct answer and not "A". In my Prephrase I got that the individual does not have any rights unless the government says that they do, which is exactly what "A" says. I can't see where in the Stimulus that "B" comes from or why that it ultimately concludes that what the government says may be incorrect.

Thanks.

Michael

[Claire Horan]

Hi Mi Kal,

Answer choice A represents a viewpoint that was presented in the stimulus but which the conclusion ultimately disagrees with. If you bracketed the conclusion within the stimulus, it would be: "But that does not mean that the government’s view [on what rights people have] is necessarily the correct view." Bracketing or underlining the conclusion in a stimulus will keep you from getting distracted.

Also note that the first sentence is qualified with the phrase "In practice." The next sentence starts off with the word "but," which signals disagreement or a shift away from the view in the first sentence.

Be sure to read carefully and understand the whole structure and substance of the stimulus before moving to the answer choices!

[CJ12345:]

Hi, Powerscore,
I did not choose B since it seemed too easy to me. It is the sentence after "but". Additionally, another reason I did not choose B is that the last sentence after the semicolon confuses me. I could not figure out how it is related to the previous sentences structurally and content-wise. Could you please explain?
I chose C because I felt like the stimulus is talking about the gov having the last word on what individuals' rights are but their views might not be correct & if you think gov is correct, you have no right. What I grab from these is that basically, it is talking about people having "negative rights." In other words, we have derivative rights since born, and the government only exists to punish behaviors if we violate something (I know it might sound like I bring outside knowledge but this is actually what I grab from the stimulus). Could you explain why this understanding is wrong and how to approach this kind of stimulus?

[Jeff Wren]

Hi CJ,

First, you mentioned that you didn't choose B because it seemed too easy. This is not a valid reason to choose or not choose an answer. While it is true that there is a general order of difficulty in the Logical Reasoning section (with earlier questions generally being easier than later questions), there are sometimes a few harder questions sprinkled in the beginning and a few easier ones toward the end.

Before even reading the question or the answer choices, you want to identify the conclusion of the argument right after you read the stimulus. I recommend actually marking the exact words of the stimulus with the digital highlighter or underline feature (if doing the question digitally). Otherwise, just mark it with brackets or underline/highlight it.

Here the conclusion is the first half of the second sentence starting with the word "But" and ending with the word "view" and the semicolon. The second half of the sentence is the explanation/support for the first half of the sentence (the conclusion).

One thing that makes this argument a little tricky is that there is an unstated premise/assumption that the idea that people have no moral rights is questionable, which is why the government's view may not be correct.

Rearranging the argument for clarity, the argument is basically,

Premise: If you believe the government's view on what an individual's rights are, then people have no moral rights at all.
Assumption/Unstated Premise: Having no moral rights at all is very problematic and probably incorrect.
Conclusion: The government's view is may not be correct.

The argument follows a fairly common pattern which you want to be familiar with. The argument starts off with an opposing viewpoint. The conclusion basically states that the first view is wrong, and then the premise(s) are given to explain why the first view is wrong.

One other point to note is that the conclusion for Main Point questions is usually not at the end of the argument because that is where most people expect it to be. Instead it's often "hidden" in the beginning or middle of the argument.

Lastly, your observation about "negative rights" is unnecessary to solving this question and is likely making the question more difficult/confusing than it needs to be.