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

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 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.

(B) A tyrant cannot rule unless he has divine power on his side.

(C) The subjects of tyrannical rulers can rarely be fooled by appearances.

(D) Tyrants who are devoted to religion will not treat their subjects unjustly

(E) For a tyrant, the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion is a more effective means of ruling than unjust treatment.

The ans is "A", can anyone explain why the answer should be A?

longhorn07 · Answer

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

What if the country were filled with people who did not believe in the gods? Then the argument put forth by Aristotle is destroyed. Hence A is the clear winner.

gmat1220 · Answer

Paraphrase - Tyrant is well advised to put on the display of piousness. Since the subjects are more tolerant toward a ruler whom they consider God fearing. Moreover as the subjects believe that even God is on the the side of the ruler, the subjects are less apt to go against the ruler.

(A) The subjects of tyrannical rulers typically believe that there is NOT NECESSARILY a power other than the mortal.

negation A destroys the argument, since the arg assumes that there is GOD. Hence it has to be A.

vinzycoolfire · Answer

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

mattbrown12 · Answer

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

longhorn07 · Answer

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

vinzycoolfire · Answer

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

Nevernevergiveup · Answer

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.)

chesstitans · Answer

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

sony1000 · Answer

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.

CAMANISHPARMAR · Answer

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

CEdward · Answer

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.

allan89 · Answer

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??

PSKhore · Answer

The assumption on which Aristotle's argument depends is that  the subjects of tyrannical rulers typically believe that there is a power other than the mortal.

Explanation:

Aristotle's advice to the tyrant is based entirely on manipulating the subjects' religious beliefs. The argument's core is:

Premise 1:  A tyrant should appear religious.

Premise 2:  This appearance makes subjects more tolerant of unjust treatment.

Premise 3 : Subjects will believe the gods are on the ruler's side.

Conclusion:  Therefore, they are less likely to rebel.

For this entire line of reasoning to hold true, the subjects must have a belief system that includes gods or a divine power. If the subjects were atheists, or did not believe in a power beyond the mortal, the entire strategy would be useless. The tyrant's "uncommon devotion to religion" would have no effect on their tolerance or their willingness to rebel because the foundation of the trick (the belief in gods) would not exist.

The other options are incorrect because they either misrepresent Aristotle's point or are not necessary assumptions:

B) A tyrant cannot rule unless he has divine power on his side:  The passage only says the tyrant should appear to have divine power, not that he must actually possess it.

C) The subjects of tyrannical rulers can rarely be fooled by appearances:  This contradicts the entire premise of the argument, which is that a tyrant can use the appearance of piety to his advantage.

D) Tyrants who are devoted to religion will not treat their subjects unjustly:  Aristotle's advice is specifically about dealing with unjust treatment. The tyrant is still unjust, he just uses piety to make it more tolerable to his subjects.

E) For a tyrant, the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion is a more effective means of ruling than unjust treatment:  This compares two methods of rule, but the argument doesn't require one to be "more effective" than the other; it simply posits that using religion is an effective way to deal with the consequences of unjust treatment.

Source: Google Gemini

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

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

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