Sociologist: Widespread acceptance of the idea that individuals are incapable of looking after their own welfare is ...

shunhe on September 14, 2020

Hi @CMarr,

Thanks for the question! So we’re told here that widespread acceptance of an idea that people can’t look after their own welfare is bad for a democracy. So, the argument concludes, legislators who value democracy shouldn’t propose any law prohibiting behavior that’s not harmful to anyone besides the person engaging in it. And the lawyer goes on to support this conclusion by saying that the assumptions that appear to guide legislators will often become widely accepted.

Now we’re asked for an assumption the argument requires. Well, what could that be? Note that the conclusion talks about laws prohibiting behavior not harmful to anyone beside the person engaging in it, and the rest of the stimulus is talking about ideas that are widely accepted and that suggest that individuals can’t look after themselves. We needs something that connects these concepts. Specifically, it seems like we need something that says that the laws prohibiting behavior harmful only to the person doing it is an idea that people are incapable of looking after their own welfare.

Now take a look at (B), which tells us that people tend to believe what is believed by those who are prominent and powerful. Does the argument require this assumption? No, not necessarily. You see, to make this assumption, we have to make further assumptions, such as “legislators are prominent and powerful people," which they might not be in this country. Some might be powerless, and many certainly aren’t prominent (how many of your representatives do you know? And even if you know them, how many other ones do you know?). Also, the “tend to believe” language is a bit weak. And the stimulus also doesn’t suggest that the legislators would actually believe the laws they’re proposing. So too many additional assumptions are required for (B), making it incorrect.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.