Logical Reasoning

PT150 · S2 · Q18 Some people prefer to avoid facing

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Some people prefer to avoid facing unpleasant truths and resent those whose unwanted honesty forces them into such a confrontation.

Background Claims

Some people hate dealing with ugly truths and resent it when someone's unwanted honesty forces them into confronting these truths.

Others hate having any information withheld from them, even if it's a painful truth.

Setup

If someone is in group 1, and they are trying to employ the moral rule to , then ...

Evaluate

People in group 1 don't want to hear or confront the ugly truths. So if a G1 person is trying to "treat people as they want to be treated", then they will refrain from saying an uncomfortable truth to them.

People in group 2 want to hear every truth, no matter how uncomfortable.

The setup text doesn't clearly indicate whether this group 1 person will be dealing with other group 1 people or with group 2 people. But if we assume that throughout life we're going to encounter some people from each group, it means that the G1 person will always be withholding the unpleasant truth (because that's how they would like to be treated), even when they deal with a G2 person who doesn't want the truth withheld.

Goal

The most interesting tension here is what happens when this G1 person is dealing with a G2. The G1 person wants to avoid confronting unpleasant truths, while the G2 person wants all the truth they can get. So if the G1 person is treating people how they themselves want to be treated, they'll end up withholding unpleasant truths even though the person they're dealing with (a G2) would prefer to hear the unpleasant truth.

Look for a safely worded answer that addresses this tension.

18.

Which one of the following most reasonably completes the argument above?

  1. they will sometimes withhold comment

    Out of Scope: otherwise willing

    The G1 person following this Golden Rule "treat others as you want to be treated" will always be withholding comment in situations involving unpleasant truths. We can't match up anything with the idea that "these G1 people would otherwise be willing to speak about these unpleasant truths". To put it another way, if the situation involves unpleasant truth, then G1 people will be "not willing to speak + withholding comment". If the situation involves pleasant truths, we don't actually know how G1 people will behave, but we might presume they would be "willing to speak + not withholding comment". We don't know of a scenario for them that combines "willing to speak + withholding comment".

    7% picked this

  2. Correct

    they will sometimes treat those

    Why this is right

    This is addressing the tension that happens when a G1 talks to a G2 in a situation involving unpleasant truths. Since the G1 is following the rule to "treat others as you yourself would like to be treated", the G1 is going to avoid confronting an unpleasant truth. But that is not the manner that G2 people like. They want to hear and confront every truth, no matter how unpleasant. Say you're one of those people who likes mayonnaise on their french fries (you're gross, Europe). But you're dating someone who hates mayo on their fries. If you're ordering french fries for your date and you follow the rule to "treat others as you like to be treated", you'll be thinking, "Well if someone were buying fries for me, I would want them to slather mayo on the fries, so according to my moral rule, I should get mayo on the fries."

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

    85% picked this

  3. those in the latter group

    Out of Scope

    Out of Scope: guided by diff principle We don't have any reason to think that G2 people are guided by a different moral rule. It's entirely possible that G1 and G2 all subscribe to the moral rule of "treat others as you want to be treated", and that just means that sometimes G1 people behave in G1 ways around a G2 person (who doesn't like that). And sometimes G2 people behave in G2 ways around a G1 person (who doesn't like that).

    3% picked this

  4. those in the latter group

    Out of Scope: latter group's response

    We have no way to derive how someone in G2 will respond to someone in G1. This answer is saying that G2 will respect G1's preferred style and conceal the ugly truths. But we don't know that. Maybe G2 follows this same rule of "treat others as you want to be treated", in which case the G2 people will respond by confronting the unpleasant truths.

    4% picked this

  5. the result will meet with

    Contradicted

    There's no way for both groups to be happy when unpleasant truths are lurking nearby, because the two groups want opposite reactions: one group wants to conceal ugly truths, and the other group wants to address those truths.

    1% picked this

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