Every moral theory developed in

Answer choices

1. A

   Out of Scope: Better Than Good6% picked this

   Most people desire a life for themselves and their children that is better than a

   This paragraph is only talking about "good life" in absolute terms. The moral theories are telling us what a good life is / isn't. Most people would react to these definitions like, "Whaaaa? That doesn't sound like what a good life is." There's nothing dealing with comparisons like better than merely good. For all we know, most people simply desire for themselves and their kids "a good life". They just disagree with how Western moral theories understand that concept.

   6%
2. B

   No Support26% picked this

   A person who fits the ideals of one moral theory in the Western tradition would not necessarily fit

   No Support: Different Ideals One-Claim Support (Red Flag) This answer is tempting because it's an incredibly weak claim that's bound to be true in the real world. The only way this answer fails to be true is if "every moral theory in the Western tradition has the same ideals", which is incredibly implausible. So, yes, in the real world this answer is almost certainly true. But is there any support provided for that from this paragraph? This paragraph never talks about whether different theories have different ideals. It's possible that all Western moral theories have the same ideals. That wouldn't conflict with anything in the passage. When the text says "someone who perfectly embodied the ideals of any one of these theories", that seems to suggest that different theories have different ideals, but it's not a must be true inference from that language. The correct answer to Inference questions (Must Be True / Most Supported) will 99% of the time involve combining 2 or more claims, so we want to be pretty skeptical when we find ourselves picking an answer based off only one claim or phrase in the paragraph.

   26%
3. C

   Correct63% picked this

   Most people have a conception of a good life that does not match that of any moral theory

   Why this is right

   This answer reconciles the pivot. It speaks to the disconnect between what Western moral theories say is a good life and what most people judge to be a good life. Since most people would look at a person who is living the "good life" described by any one of these theories and judge, "wait a sec --- that person is not living a good life!", that basically proves that most people's concept of "good life" does not match the concept of a good life found in any Western moral theory.

   Skill tested: Most Supported · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   63%
4. D

   Too Strong: Cannot Be Realized3% picked this

   A good life as described by moral theories in the Western tradition

   Nothin in the paragraph suggests that it's impossible to achieve the ideals described in any of these Western moral theories.

   3%
5. E

   Too Strong: Impossible1% picked this

   It is impossible to develop a theory that accurately describes what a

   Nothing in the paragraph suggests that it's impossible to accurately describe what a good life is. The paragraph suggests that Western moral theories do not accurately describe what most people consider a good life. But that doesn't mean it's impossible. Maybe it's already been done, with Eastern moral theories. Maybe there will be a new Western moral theory developed in the future that accurately describes the good life.

   1%