Historian: The revolutionary party has been accused of having many

Question

Historian: The revolutionary party has been accused of having many overambitious goals and of having caused great suffering. However, most of the party's goals were quickly achieved and the party did not have enough power to cause the suffering the critics claim it caused. So it is clear that the party was not overambitious and caused no suffering.

The reasoning in the historian's argument is flawed because the argument

(A) gives mutually inconsistent responses to the two criticisms

(B) fails to establish that the revolutionary party caused no suffering

(C) fails to establish that any of the revolutionary party's critics underestimated the party's power

(D) provides no evidence that the revolutionary party's goals were not overambitious

(E) fails to consider other major criticisms of the revolutionary party

guddo · Answer

Historian: The revolutionary party has been accused of having many overambitious goals and of having caused great suffering. However, most of the party's goals were quickly achieved and the party did not have enough power to cause the suffering the critics claim it caused. So it is clear that the party was not overambitious and caused no suffering. 
 
The reasoning in the historian's argument is flawed because the argument

The historian tries to answer two criticisms. The evidence may weaken the claim that the party caused great suffering, but it does not prove that the party caused  no suffering at all . That is the key overreach.

(A) gives mutually inconsistent responses to the two criticisms

The responses are not inconsistent. The historian says the goals were mostly achieved and the party lacked enough power to cause the claimed suffering. Those two points can both be true.

(B) fails to establish that the revolutionary party caused no suffering

This is correct. Showing that the party could not have caused the amount of suffering critics claim does not show that it caused  no suffering . It may have caused some suffering, just not as much as critics said.

(C) fails to establish that any of the revolutionary party's critics underestimated the party's power

This is not the issue. The argument does not need to prove that critics underestimated the party’s power; it claims that the party lacked enough power to cause the suffering alleged.

(D) provides no evidence that the revolutionary party's goals were not overambitious

This is too strong. The fact that most goals were quickly achieved is at least some evidence that the goals were not overambitious.

(E) fails to consider other major criticisms of the revolutionary party

Other criticisms are irrelevant. The argument is only about these two criticisms.

Answer: (B)

Vivek1707 · Answer

The key to this question is to notice the  GAP/scope shift .

The premis says that the party was accused of causing  GREAT  suffering. The counter is that the party dint have the power to cause the suffering claimed ( GREAT  suffering) but then the conclusion becomes ---> the party caused  no suffering .

From not having power to cause  GREAT  suffering the conclusion claims that the party caused  NO suffering  ---> this is the major flaw and is covered by B

Other answers:

A No such inconsistencies are given
C No the fact that critics called the party overambitious ---> implies that some of them did underestimate the party's power, given the party achieved its goals  quickly .
D It does provide some evidence even though the evidence is insufficient ---> i.e the goals were quickly achieved.
E Out of scope

yc168 · Answer

OE for reference:

Overview:  
The historian's argument has two premises: most of the revolutionary party's goals were quickly achieved and the party did not have enough power to cause great suffering. The argument concludes that the party was not overambitious and caused no suffering. You are asked to identify a flaw in this argument.

The Correct Answer:

B  The historian's argument concludes that the party caused no suffering. But the support provided for this is just that the party did not have enough power to cause the great suffering alleged by its critics. This is not sufficient to establish that the party caused no suffering at all.

The Incorrect Answer Choices:

A  The historian's responses to the two criticisms are (1) that most of the party's goals were quickly achieved and (2) that the party did not have enough power to cause great suffering. (1) and (2) are consistent with each other. It's possible for a party to quickly achieve most of its goals despite being weak, for example, if its goals were easy to achieve or if it got outside help.

C  To refute the second accusation against the revolutionary party, that the party caused great suffering, the historian states that the party did not have enough power to cause the suffering its critics claim it caused. This indicates that the historian thinks that the party's critics overestimated its strength, so it would not help the historian's argument to establish that the party had  more  power than some of its critics thought it had.

D  If the revolutionary party's goals were overambitious, it is likely that the party's goals would be difficult to achieve. But the argument says that most of the party's goals were quickly achieved. Since it is reasonable to think that overambitious goals cannot be quickly achieved, this is evidence that the party's goals were not overambitious. Thus, (D) is false.

E  The historian's argument is limited to addressing the two stated criticisms of the party. The fact that the argument doesn't consider other criticisms doesn't affect the quality of the historian's argument against the two stated criticisms.

Historian: The revolutionary party has been accused of having many

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Historian: The revolutionary party has been accused of having many

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