Self-study
Some psychologists claim that, in theory, the best way to understand another person would be through deep empathy, whereby one would gain a direct and complete grasp of that person's motivations. ███ ███████ ████ ███ ██████ ████ █████ █████ ██ ██ ███ ██ ███ ██ ███████ ██████████████ █████ ██ ██ ███████████████ ██████████ ██ ████ █ ██████ ███ ████████ █████ ██ ███████ ████████ ████████████ ███ █████████ ███ ███ ██████████ █████ ███████ ████ █████ █████████████ ███ ██████
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that psychologists who claim empathy is the best way, in theory, to understand someone else are wrong. He concludes this by arguing that since it’s impossible to gain a direct and complete grasp of another person’s motivations, there’d be no way to achieve understanding according to the psychologists, and since one can understand people, the psychologists are wrong.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author reasons that if the psychologists are right, we can’t achieve understanding. However, this reasoning is flawed because the psychologists didn’t argue that deep empathy is the only way to understand people, only that it’s the best way. Also, the author’s reasoning that the psychologists are wrong is flawed. Just because the theoretically best way to do something wouldn’t work in practice, it doesn’t mean it’s not the theoretically best way.
11.
The argument is most vulnerable ██ ███ █████████ ████ ██
a
fails to adequately ██████ ███ ███ ██████ █████ ████████
The term “deep empathy” is defined right after it’s first mentioned.
b
assumes something that ██ █████ ███████ █████████ ██ █ █████████████
The author erroneously assumes that the psychologists’ claim is contradictory to fact. However, the author never denies this assumption.
c
confuses a theoretically ████ ███ ██ █████████████ █████████ ████ ███ ████ ███ ██ █████████████ ██
This flaw is committed. The author reasons that if the psychologists are right, understanding can’t be achieved. However, the psychologists never argued that deep empathy is the only way to understand people. They only argued that it’s the best way.
d
accepts a claim ██ ████ ██████████ ███████ █████████ ██████████ █████████████
The author doesn’t accept any claims on mere authority. The author argues that the psychologists’ claim is incorrect.
e
fails to consider ████ █████ █████████████ ███ ████████ ████ ███ █████████████ █████
The author’s argument isn’t concerned with other psychologists. The author only argues that the psychologists who claim that deep empathy is the best way to understand another person are wrong.