Self-study
Commentator: The Duke of Acredia argued long ago that only virtuous Acredian rulers concerned with the well-being of the people will be able to rule successfully. █████ █████ ████ ████████ ███████████ ████ ███████ █████ █████ ████ ██████ ████ ██████ ███ ████ ██ ███ ███ █████████ ██████████ ███ ████████ ██████ ███ █████ █████ ███ █████ █████ ██ █████ ███ ██████ ███████ ███ ███ ███████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ █████████ ███ ███ ██████████ ██████████ ██ ████████
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that concern for the welfare of people is necessary for successful governance of Acredia. This is based on the fact that whenever Acredian governments have fallen, their falls have always been during the rule of someone who didn’t care about the welfare of people.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author overlooks the possibility that there might be some cases where Acredian governments have been successful, but the ruler didn’t care about the welfare of people. In other words, although we know that whenever governments have failed, rulers haven’t been concerned with welfare of people, that doesn’t imply that concern with welfare of people is necessary. It’s possible there are successful Acredian governments that have also been unconcerned with welfare of people.
12.
The reasoning in the commentator's ████████ ██ ████ ██████████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ████████
a
ignores the possibility ████ ███ ██████████ ████ ███ █████████ ███ ███ ███████ ██ ███ ██████ ███ ██████ ██ ██████ ████ ████
The argument concerns what is necessary for a successful Acredian government. What’s necessary for the welfare of people is a separate issue.
b
infers the necessity ██ █ ███████ █████████ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ████ ████ ███ ███████ ███ ██████ ███ ██ ███████
The premise doesn’t establish that the absence of concern for welfare has “always” led to gov. failure. It establishes that when a government has failed, it’s always been during the rule of one not concerned with welfare. (B) reverses the correct description of the premise.
c
appeals to evidence ████ ███████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ ██ ██ ████ ███ ██████ ██ ██████████
The premise doesn’t rely on a source. In any case, even if it did, we have no reason to think the evidence is based on a source that’s biased or unreliable.
d
infers that a ███████ █████████ ██ ████████ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ████ ████ ███ ████ ██ ████ █████████ ██ ██████████ ████ ███████
The author infers that concern for welfare is necessary for success from the fact that lack of concern has been “associated” with failure. (D) accurately describes the premise portion, unlike (B). We know whenever a gov. has failed, it’s been during lack of concern.
e
presumes, without providing ██████████████ ████ ███ █████████ ██ ████ ██████ ███ ██ ████████ ██ ████ ██████████ █████████ ███
The argument doesn’t try to establish anything about the character of past rulers. The argument concerns whether certain features in a ruler are necessary for success.