Logical Reasoning

PT148 · S3 · Q21 Genuine happiness consists not

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Genuine happiness consists not in pleasurable feelings but instead in one's sense of approval of one's character and projects.

Conclusion (thus)

The happy life tends to be the good life (the morally virtuous life).

Evidence

Happiness consists in one's sense of approval of one's character and projects.

Evaluate

The author has a couple moments here where she says, "defined not as X, but as Y". We should focus more on how she is defining things than on how she isn't.

According to the evidence, "the happy life" would be one where one approves of one's character and projects.

According to the conclusion, "the happy life" is a morally virtuous life.

So it seems like the author is assuming some missing link between "approving of your character and projects" and "being morally virtuous".

Goal

Look for something like .

21.

Which one of the following is an assumption required by the argument?

  1. A morally virtuous life requires

    Too Strong: requires rejection

    The author is saying, "Let's not define the good life in terms of material well-being. Let's define it as being morally virtuous." But that doesn't mean that the latter requires rejecting the former. If I say, "let's define being a good lawyer not in terms of winning a lot of cases but in terms of giving your clients satisfactory representation", I'm not saying that "giving your clients satisfactory representation requires avoiding winning a lot of cases".

    4% picked this

  2. Correct

    People who approve of their

    Why this is right

    The author's conclusion looks like this: Happy ---------------------> morally life virtuous life The author's evidence is saying: Happy ----> approve of character and projects approve of ----> morally character and projects virtuous life Conversationally, the author is saying, "Since happiness means that you approve of your character and projects, the happy life tends to be the morally virtuous life." That means that she is assuming that "if you approve of your character and projects, you tend to be living a morally virtuous life."

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

    67% picked this

  3. Approval of one's own character

    Too Strong: tends not to

    This is functionally the same answer as (A). This is why we shouldn't get caught up in how the author isn't defining things. They're putting those filler phrases in the argument to create these trap answers. If I say "Being a good father consists not in trips to Disneyland but instead in reading to your kids at night", am I assuming that "fathers who read to their kids at night tend not to take them to Disneyland"? No, I'm not assuming that. The fathers who read to their kids might also take them to Disneyland, I'm just saying that we're not defining good father that way.

    4% picked this

  4. Attaining happiness is the real

    Out of Scope: real goal

    Our author hasn't talked at all about what are / aren't the real goals of people who strive for material well-being. Whether happiness is or isn't the real goal of people who want material well-being wouldn't hurt the author's argument. The author is only claiming that attaining happiness via approving of your character and projects is usually a good, morally virtuous life.

    1% picked this

  5. Material well-being does not increase

    Not Necessary

    When we're doing Necessary Assumption and we see an answer ruling out an idea with the word "not", we find it enticing. We negate the answer by removing the "not" and see if it turns into an objection. Material well-being does increase one's sense of approval of one's character and projects. Is that an objection? No, the author never made any claims about whether material well-being had any effect on our sense of approval of our character or projects. The author only brought up material well-being to say, "I'm not defining the good life as most people do these days as material well-being. I'm defining it as a morally virtuous life." It was extraneous to the argument. The author isn't bothered if people are both morally virtuous and attaining material well-being (just as a good father might read to his children at night and take them to Disneyland). He's just clarifying how he's defining good life.

    24% picked this

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