Essayist: One of the drawbacks of extreme personal and political freedom is that free choices are often made for the...

Mehran on March 26, 2017

@ariella this is a Strengthen (Principle) question, so we are looking for the principle that most helps to strengthen the Essayist's argument.

Let's break down the argument first.

The conclusion here is, "one should not support political systems that allow extreme freedom."

And the support provided?

"One of the drawbacks of extreme personal and political freedom is that free choices are often made for the worst."

"Once people see the destructive consequences of extreme freedom, they may prefer to establish totalitarian political regimes that allow virtually no freedom."

The key here is finding an answer choice that ties these premises (i.e. extreme freedom results may result in people preferring to establish totalitarian political regimes that allow virtually no freedom) more closely to the conclusion (i.e. one should not support political systems that allow extreme freedom).

This is exactly what (D) does, i.e. "one should not support any political system whose destructive consequences could lead people to prefer totalitarian political regimes."

Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Meredith on November 4, 2019

Can someone please explain what specifically makes the other answer choices incorrect