PrepTest 131, Section 1, Question 6
Deirdre: Many philosophers have argued that the goal(70 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- AIt dismisses a(11 more words not shown)
- BIt fails to(20 more words not shown)
- CIt allows the(14 more words not shown)
- DIt presumes, without(11 more words not shown)
- EIt makes a(17 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
What do these philosophers mean by “happiness”? They give us a definition: the satisfaction of fully living up to your potential. That is more specific than feeling cheerful this afternoon.
We might question whether everyone has that goal. Someone might care more about power, for example, or about leaving the world better than they found it. But to understand the philosophers' claim about how hard happiness is to achieve, we need to keep their definition in view. Fulfilling your potential could plausibly require years of effort.
Deirdre responds with a pleasant walk on the beach. I can see how that could make someone feel happy. A child could feel happy too, without years of work. But neither example establishes the satisfaction of fully realizing one's potential. The philosophers could simply respond, “That is not what we meant by happiness.”
What we’re looking for
The flaw is the change in meaning. Deirdre tries to refute a claim about one kind of satisfaction by showing how easily someone can experience a different kind of feeling.
Working the answers
- A
Deirdre does not reject the claim because philosophers made it or because of some personal defect in those philosophers. She offers the beach example as evidence against their position. The problem is that the example does not address their defined meaning of happiness.
- B
Perhaps a beach walk would delight someone today and bore them tomorrow. That still concerns the pleasant feeling Deirdre substitutes for the philosophers' definition. Even if walking on the beach reliably produced that feeling every time, it would not establish that fully realizing one's potential is easy. Changing reactions over time are not the gap in the argument.
- CCorrect
The philosophers use “happiness” for satisfaction derived from fully living up to one's potential. Deirdre uses it for the enjoyable feelings a sunny walk can produce. Treating those as the same thing makes her example look like a rebuttal when it does not actually challenge what the philosophers said.
- D
The philosophers say happiness is everyone's goal. Deirdre's objection concerns how difficult happiness is to achieve, not whether it is the goal of life. She could make her beach argument without assuming that everyone should pursue happiness, so D does not identify the mistake in that argument.
- E
Deirdre is challenging the philosophers, not using their testimony to establish what a wider population believes. Her evidence is the experience of people walking on a beach. The issue is what kind of happiness that experience demonstrates, not whether the philosophers form a representative group.
More Flaw questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Flaw questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.