PrepTest 113, Section 3, Question 10
If something would have been justifiably regretted if(32 more words not shown)
The conclusion above follows logically(8 more words not shown)
- AOne should never(3 more words not shown)
- BForgone pleasures that(9 more words not shown)
- CEverything that one(10 more words not shown)
- DMany forgone pleasures(5 more words not shown)
- ENothing that one(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A forgone pleasure is one you passed up. Passing it up doesn't automatically mean you would have been right to regret taking it.
Make the opening rule concrete. Suppose someone enjoys a risky shortcut while driving, but would have had good reason to regret it if it led to a speeding ticket. The rule says that, in that situation, the person shouldn't have desired the experience in the first place. Whether we agree with that rule in life, we can use it as the premise here.
But which forgone pleasures fit the rule? Perhaps some things we passed up would have been enjoyable without giving us a justified reason for regret. The argument hasn't yet placed many forgone pleasures in the group its rule covers.
What we’re looking for
We're asked to make the conclusion follow. The missing link is that many of those forgone pleasures would have been justifiably regretted if they occurred. Once we have that, the stated rule tells us those pleasures shouldn't have been desired.
Working the answers
- A
This tells us never to regret pleasures. It doesn't establish that many forgone pleasures would have deserved regret, which is what would let us apply the opening rule. It therefore doesn't get us to the conclusion about what should not have been desired.
- B
Not having desired something isn't the same as not having been right to desire it. B concerns forgone pleasures that actually weren't desired and says they wouldn't have been justifiably regretted. It doesn't put many forgone pleasures into the regrettable group the rule needs. In fact, for the group it describes, it denies that connection.
- C
Regretting that you missed something differs from having a justified reason to regret it if it had happened. I might regret missing a pleasant trip; that doesn't mean taking the trip would have deserved regret. C also classifies certain desires as forgone pleasures rather than showing that many forgone pleasures meet the opening rule. It doesn't supply the needed link.
- DCorrect
Many forgone pleasures would have been justifiably regretted. The opening rule covers anything that would have been justifiably regretted and says it should not have been desired. Applying that rule to the many pleasures D identifies gives the conclusion: many forgone pleasures should not have been desired.
Each step now has support. D places the relevant pleasures in the rule's starting group; the original rule carries them to the judgment in the conclusion.
- E
In plain language, this says everything that shouldn't have been desired is a pleasure. It doesn't say that many forgone pleasures shouldn't have been desired. We still have no basis for placing those forgone pleasures in that group.
The direction matters, and so does 'forgone.' Knowing that certain things count as pleasures doesn't tell us which forgone pleasures we shouldn't have wanted.
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