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- Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:00 am
#23090
Complete Question Explanation
Method of Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (E)
The historian claims that Alexander the Great should not be judged according to current notions of justice, and instead should be judged by the standards of his own time. The rest of the historian's "argument" consists of giving examples of questions he thinks are valid and would judge a ruler by the standards of his own time, but is not evidence for his position. In fact, one of the questions contradicts the historian's claim, as the student will point out.
The historian claimed that it is appropriate to ask whether Alexander elevated the standards of justice in his time. However, the concept of elevation implies that there is some relative absolute. If we do not assume a superior understanding of justice, it is impossible to say that Alexander elevated justice. That is what the student refers to when arguing that it is impossible to tell whether Alexander raised contemporary standards of justice without referring to some standard external to Alexander's own culture.
Answer choice (A) The student does not refer to any specific period in the past that must be referenced.
Answer choice (B) This is a close choice, but incorrect. The student shows that the historian makes statements inconsistent with the principle, not that some consequences of the principle are inconsistent with each other.
Answer choice (C) Since neither the student nor the historian were concerned with Alexander's heroic qualities, this response is incorrect. The historian included "heroic stature" as a background detail which is nonessential to the argument.
Answer choice (D) The student neither mentions nor implies anything about motive.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. As discussed, the student points out an inconsistency between the historian's criteria and the historian's principle that only the standards of a figure's own culture should be used when discussing justice.
Method of Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (E)
The historian claims that Alexander the Great should not be judged according to current notions of justice, and instead should be judged by the standards of his own time. The rest of the historian's "argument" consists of giving examples of questions he thinks are valid and would judge a ruler by the standards of his own time, but is not evidence for his position. In fact, one of the questions contradicts the historian's claim, as the student will point out.
The historian claimed that it is appropriate to ask whether Alexander elevated the standards of justice in his time. However, the concept of elevation implies that there is some relative absolute. If we do not assume a superior understanding of justice, it is impossible to say that Alexander elevated justice. That is what the student refers to when arguing that it is impossible to tell whether Alexander raised contemporary standards of justice without referring to some standard external to Alexander's own culture.
Answer choice (A) The student does not refer to any specific period in the past that must be referenced.
Answer choice (B) This is a close choice, but incorrect. The student shows that the historian makes statements inconsistent with the principle, not that some consequences of the principle are inconsistent with each other.
Answer choice (C) Since neither the student nor the historian were concerned with Alexander's heroic qualities, this response is incorrect. The historian included "heroic stature" as a background detail which is nonessential to the argument.
Answer choice (D) The student neither mentions nor implies anything about motive.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. As discussed, the student points out an inconsistency between the historian's criteria and the historian's principle that only the standards of a figure's own culture should be used when discussing justice.
