Aristotle wrote that a tyrant would be well advised to put on the appe

A for sure. i'll go with the explanation given by gmat1220. But is this really LSAT CR? seems too easy and straightforward.

(A) for me too. When you say LSAT is the source , what book are you referring to ?

Not all LSAT questions are hard. The questions get more difficult towards the end of each logical reasoning section...

That explains it!! for a moment there i was under the illusion i was getting good at CR!! time to wake up i guess

Aristotle wrote that a tyrant would be well advised to put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion.

Subjects are more tolerant of unjust treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-rearing and pious.
Moreover as most subjects believer that even the gods are on the side of the ruler, the subjects are less apt to move against him.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which Aristotle’s argument depends?

(A) The subjects of tyrannical rulers typically believe that there is a power other than the mortal.(This is the answer since this is the reason the subjects are less apt to move against him. Good for the tyrant.)
(B) A tyrant cannot rule unless he has divine power on his side. (tyrant is well advised to put on the appearance of devotion but he does not have powers.)
(C) The subjects of tyrannical rulers can rarely be fooled by appearances.(If so there is no use of putting on appearance.)
(D) Tyrants who are devoted to religion will not treat their subjects unjustly. (This is the belief of subjects in any case but not argument.)
(E) For a tyrant, the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion is a more effective means of ruling than unjust treatment. (Need not be assumed.)

B,C,D are out of scope.
B is unnecessary, the tyrant ruler just needs to have a fake power from god.

I think one of the options is to use negation: "The subjects of tyrannical rulers typically do not believe that there is a power other than the mortal". If that is the case subjects would not be tolerant to unjust treatment and would move against the ruler.

What is the source of this question? I am unable to see any source tagged to this question.

Aristotle wrote that a tyrant would be well advised to put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are more tolerant of unjust treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-rearing and pious. Moreover as most subjects believe that even the gods are on the side of the ruler, the subjects are less apt to move against him.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which Aristotle’s argument depends?


(A) The subjects of tyrannical rulers typically believe that there is a power other than the mortal. CORRECT

(B) A tyrant cannot rule unless he has divine power on his side. X
This doesn't need to be true. Fails negation test.

(C) The subjects of tyrannical rulers can rarely be fooled by appearances. X
This goes in the opposite direction of the argument and is inconsistent with the the reasoning.

(D) Tyrants who are devoted to religion will not treat their subjects unjustly X
Sidesteps the argument here, which is primarily about tyrant's putting on a facade to prevent his people from ruling against him. We need to support this conclusion: Moreover as most subjects believe that even the gods are on the side of the ruler, the subjects are less apt to move against him.

(E) For a tyrant, the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion is a more effective means of ruling than unjust treatment. X
No need to assume anything about effectiveness.

Can anyone explain why is C wrong; Dont disagree that A is correct; but cant understand why C is wrong?
If subjects cannot be fooled by appearences then the entire argument of advising to put on appearance breaks ? where i am wrong??

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