Self-study
Bowers: A few theorists hold the extreme view that society could flourish in a condition of anarchy, the absence of government. ████ ██ █████ █████████ ████ ████ ████████ ███████████ █████████ ██ ███████ ████ █████████ ███ ███████ ███ ████████ ████████ ████ ███████ ██ █████████████ ██████████ █████ ██ ███ ███████ ████████ ███ █████ ██████████ █████ ██████ ███ ███████████ █████████ ██ ██████ █████████████████ ██ ██████████ ██████ ██████████ ████ ███████ █████ ███ ██████ ███ ██████ ██████████ ████ ████████████ ██████ █████ ████████ ███████████ ████████ ██ ███████ ██████████
Summarize Argument
The author’s implicit conclusion is that the theorists’ view that society can flourish in a condition of anarchy (in the sense of absence of government) isn’t acceptable. This is based on the premise that any acceptable social philosophy must promote peace and order. The author believes the theorists’ view is something that promotes anarchy (in the sense of chaos), which is why he believes the view isn’t acceptable.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author inappropriately interprets the term “anarchy” in a different way from how the theorists used it. The theorists defined anarchy as the absence of government. But the author mistakenly thinks the theorists’ view condoned anarchy in the sense of chaos (absence of order). This misrepresents the theorists’ view and renders the author’s criticism unpersuasive.
15.
The reasoning in Bowers's argument ██ ████ ██████████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ███████ ████
a
the meaning of █ ███ ████ ██████ █████████ ██████ ███ ██████ ██ ███ ████████
The meaning of “anarchy” inappropriately shifts. The theorists used “anarchy” to mean absence of government. But in arguing against the theorists’ view, the author uses “anarchy” in the sense of chaos.
b
the argument fails ██ ████ ████ █████████████ ██████████ ████████ ██ ██ ████████ ██ █ ██████ ██████████
The author isn’t attempting to reject laissez-faire capitalism. Laissez-faire capitalism is simply mentioned as part of an illustration of the kind of arguments some theorists make in support of the idea that society can flourish without government.
c
the truth or ███████ ██ █ ████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ██████ ███ ██████ ██ ██ ████
The author does not reject the theorists’ view on the basis of the number of people who believe it.
d
the argument presumes, ███████ █████████ ██████████████ ████ ███ ████████ ███████ ████ ████████
The author argues against the idea that society can flourish in a condition of anarchy. But the author doesn’t take any position on what is sufficient to make a society flourish.
e
it is unreasonable ██ ██████ █ ████ ██████ ███████ ██ ███ ██ █████████ ██ ███████
Although the author does mention that the view is extreme, he does not reject the view on the basis of its being extreme. The basis is the mistaken belief that the view countenances anarchy (in the sense of chaos).