Self-study
Sociologist: Conclusion The welfare state cannot be successfully implemented because Support it rests on the assumption that human beings are unselfish—a seemingly false assumption. ███ ███████ █████ ██ ████████ ████ ██ ████ ███████ ███ ████████ ██ ████ █████ ███████████ █████ ████ ██ ████ ██████ ██ ███████ █████ ███ ████ ████████ ██ █████████ █████████ ███ ██████ ████████ ████ █████ ███ ███████████ ██████████ ████ ███ █████████ ██ ██████ ████████ ███
Summarize Argument
The welfare state cannot be successfully implemented. Why not? It requires something that is not occurring, i.e. it requires human beings to be unselfish. This is supported with claims about human nature that are intended to prove that humans are innately self-serving.
Identify Conclusion
The conclusion is the author’s assertion that the welfare state won’t work: “The welfare state cannot be successfully implemented.”
8.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ ████ ██████████ ██ ███ █████████████ █████████
a
The welfare state ████ ███ █████
This accurately paraphrases the conclusion. Everything else in the argument supports the claim that the welfare state “cannot be successfully implemented,” meaning that it won’t work.
b
The welfare state ████████ ████ █████ ███ ████ ████ ██ ████ █████ ██ ███████ █████
There is no judgment on fairness. According to the author, people may not want to help, but fairness is never mentioned.
c
The assumption that █████ ██████ ███ █████████ ██ ██████
This is a sub-conclusion or major premise in the argument, not the main conclusion. This claim is supported by the statement that “people innately seek their own well-being”, but this claim also supports the main conclusion that the welfare state isn’t viable.
d
The interests of ███ ████ █████████ ███████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ███████
This is an assumption linking two premises: that wage-earners’ income is “used to help others in greater need,” and that people default to self-serving behavior when their interest is threatened. Helping others doesn’t necessarily threaten the helper, but the author has assumed that.
e
The welfare state ██████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██ ████ ████████
The welfare system relies on wage earners to be unselfish; we can’t assume that unselfishness and generosity are the same thing. Also, this reliance on unselfishness is part of the support, not the main conclusion.