Logical Reasoning

PT120 · S3 · Q12 Critics have argued that because

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Critics have argued that because Freudianism holds that people have unconscious desires that can defeat their attempts to follow rational life plans, it is incompatible with the predominantly rationalistic spirit of Western philosophical and psychological thought.

Attribution (critics argued)

Freudianism is incompatible with rationalistic Western thought, because it holds that people's unconscious desires can defeat their rational life plans.

Author's Pivot (But)

Freudianism also says that you can become conscious of these unconscious desires and avoid being defeated by them.

Evaluate

Since the blank is prefaced by Therefore, we know that we're trying to pick whichever answer feels like the Most Supported conclusion.

if we read this paragraph as a regular Most Supported stimulus (where we read mostly for Causal, Conditional, or Pivot wording), the But introducing the final claim would get our attention.

Most of the time that an Inference paragraph Ends with a Pivot, it means that the correct answer will be the takeaway you get from combining this final claim with what came before it.

When we see an Attribution followed by a Pivot, then the takeaway is usually, "The original attribution was wrong" (a rebuttal).

The critics' conclusion was that Freudianism is not compatible with Western rationalism, based on the premise that Freudianism talks about unconscious desires defeating our rational plan. The author is saying, 'Yeah, but you can learn to avoid being defeated by those unconscious desires."

This suggests that rationality can still win. You can still follow your rational life plan, so long as you learn to be conscious of these unconscious desires.

Goal

Thus, we'd logically arrive at a Rebuttal conclusion: these critics are wrong to think that Freudianism can't co-exist with Rationalism. Freudianism is compatible with the rationalistic spirit of Western thought.

12.

Which one of the following most logically completes the argument?

  1. Correct

    Freudianism does not run counter

    Why this is right

    This sounds like the rebuttal conclusion we predicted: "Freudianism is compatible with Western rational thought". Saying that "X does not run counter to Y" is very similar to saying "X does not go against Y", or "X and Y are compatible".

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

    84% picked this

  2. Freudianism holds that people can

    Too Strong

    Too Strong: always Out of Scope: happiness The passage was only discussing whether or not people could follow a rational life plan, according to Freudianism, not whether people could be happy. And Freudianism seems to be saying that psychoanalysis gives people a potential tool to overcome their unconscious desires. It doesn't seem to promise anything extreme like "people can always achieve happiness".

    1% picked this

  3. Freudianism may be the beginning

    Too Strong: new trend

    This goes too far in the Rebuttal direction. The author is only trying to show that Freudianism can co-exist with Western rational thought. This answer is saying, "Not only can they co-exist, but Freudianism might be a new trend in Western thought". We don't have any support for this further step of, "Not only is Western thought okay with Freudianism, it's about to embrace it!"

    4% picked this

  4. psychoanalysis provides one with a

    Unsupported Relationship: provides

    The passage is saying that psychoanalysis can help protect your rational life plan (against being undermined by unconscious desires). It never suggests that psychoanalysis would actually help you write/create a life plan.

    9% picked this

  5. Freudianism reflects the predominantly rationalistic

    Too Strong: more than any other

    Just like (C), this goes too far in the Rebuttal direction. The author is only trying to show that Freudianism can co-exist with Western rational thought. This answer is saying, "Freudianism is the #1 most compatible theory for Western thought". We don't have any support for this superlative.

    2% picked this

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