Although withholding information from someone who would find that info

Question

Although withholding information from someone who would find that information painful is sometimes justified, there is no such justification if the person would benefit from having the information. Therefore, even though it would be painful for Jason to learn that his supervisor is displeased with his work, his colleague Jane should nonetheless inform Jason of this fact, for knowing that his supervisor was displeased would enable Jason to improve his supervisor's opinion of his work.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument relies?

(A) If Jane does not tell Jason that his supervisor is displeased with his work, then Jason's situation will worsen.

(B) If Jane does not tell Jason that his supervisor is displeased with his work, Jason will never find out.

(C) If Jane tells Jason that his supervisor is displeased with his work, Jason will be grateful for the information even though it will be painful for him to learn it.

(D) Jason might eventually improve his supervisor's opinion of his work even if he never learns that his supervisor is displeased with his work.

(E) Jason would benefit if he were able to improve his supervisor's opinion of his work.

Vihangoyal12345 · Answer

Ya I gave you quick but short answer . 1 . Conclusion -if painful = not informeed but if informe benefit that respective person although painful it shoul share . 
I this case . So author asum that jason benefit from information. If not whole argument is collapsed

guddo · Answer

Although withholding information from someone who would find that information painful is sometimes justified, there is no such justification if the person would benefit from having the information. Therefore, even though it would be painful for Jason to learn that his supervisor is displeased with his work, his colleague Jane should nonetheless inform Jason of this fact, for knowing that his supervisor was displeased would enable Jason to improve his supervisor's opinion of his work.
 
 Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument relies?

The argument says Jane should tell Jason because Jason would benefit from knowing the information. The stated benefit is that Jason could improve his supervisor’s opinion of his work.  The missing assumption  is that improving the supervisor’s opinion would actually be  beneficial to Jason .

(A) If Jane does not tell Jason that his supervisor is displeased with his work, then Jason's situation will worsen.

Wrong. The argument does not need Jason’s situation to worsen if Jane stays silent. It only needs Jason to benefit if Jane tells him.

(B) If Jane does not tell Jason that his supervisor is displeased with his work, Jason will never find out.

Wrong. The argument does not require Jane to be Jason’s only possible source of the information.

(C) If Jane tells Jason that his supervisor is displeased with his work, Jason will be grateful for the information even though it will be painful for him to learn it.

Wrong. Jason does not need to feel grateful. The issue is whether the information benefits him.

(D) Jason might eventually improve his supervisor's opinion of his work even if he never learns that his supervisor is displeased with his work.

Wrong. This weakens the need to tell Jason rather than supporting the argument.

(E) Jason would benefit if he were able to improve his supervisor's opinion of his work.

Correct. The argument depends on treating improvement in the supervisor’s opinion as a benefit to Jason. Without that assumption, the fact that Jason could improve the supervisor’s opinion would not show that Jane should tell him.

Answer: (E)

gullyboy09 · Answer

There is a jump here.

Argument is - it is justified if it  benefits  the person.

"..would enable Jason to improve his supervisor's opinion of his work." - Now this should benefit the Jason to makes sense. E does that clearly.

yc168 · Answer

OE for reference:

Overview:  
The argument states the principle that withholding information from someone who would find that information painful is not justified if the person would benefit from having the information. The argument then applies this principle to a particular case, concluding that Jane should inform Jason that his supervisor is displeased with his work, even though Jason would find this information painful, since knowing this information would enable Jason to improve his supervisor's opinion of his work. You are asked to identify an assumption that the argument relies on.

The Correct Answer:

E  The argument states an exception to the view that it is sometimes justified to withhold painful information; when the information would benefit the recipient, withholding it is never justified. The argument doesn't tell us that Jason would benefit if he were informed of what Jane knows, that his supervisor is displeased with his work; it only tells us that this information would enable Jason to improve his supervisor's opinion of his work. To conclude that Jane should convey what she knows to Jason, we need to fill this gap by assuming that Jason would benefit if he were able to improve his supervisor's opinion of his work.

The Incorrect Answer Choices:

A  In order to reach its conclusion, the argument does not need to assume that Jason's situation will worsen if Jane does not tell him that his supervisor is displeased. Jason might benefit from having this information even if his situation would remain unchanged if he were not to receive it, since Jason's supervisor would still be displeased with his work if the situation doesn't change.

B  Even if Jason will eventually find out that his supervisor is displeased, it could benefit Jason to find out earlier (by being told by Jane). And the exception to the principle stated in the passage only requires that the person benefit from receiving the information. It does not require that the person would never have the information if it were withheld.

C  In order to reach its conclusion, the argument needs to establish that having the information that his supervisor is displeased would benefit Jason. But even if having that information would benefit Jason, he won't necessarily feel grateful for it. He might be unaware of the benefit, or he might simply find the information too painful. So the argument does not need to assume that Jason will be grateful for the information.

D  The argument does not need to assume that Jason might eventually improve his supervisor's opinion even if he never learns that his supervisor is displeased. Indeed, if (D) were true, it might indicate that Jason would not benefit from having the information. If that were true, the conclusion would not be supported.

Although withholding information from someone who would find that info

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Although withholding information from someone who would find that info

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