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Updated on: 22 Oct 2021, 04:22
Originally posted by deepti1206 on 25 May 2012, 01:23.
Last edited by Bunuel on 22 Oct 2021, 04:22, edited 2 times in total.
Last edited by Bunuel on 22 Oct 2021, 04:22, edited 2 times in total.
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26% (02:09) correct
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Editorialist: Despite the importance it seems to have in our lives, money does not really exist. This is evident from the fact that all that would be needed to make money disappear would be a universal loss of belief in it. We witness this phenomenon on a small scale daily in the rises and falls of financial markets, whose fluctuations are often entirely independent of concrete causes and are the result of mere beliefs of investors.
The conclusion of the editorialist's argument can be properly drawn if which one of the following is assumed?
A) Anything that exists would continue to exist even if everyone were to stop believing in it.
B) Only if one can have mistaken beliefs about a thing does that thing exist, strictly speaking.
C) In order to exist, an entity must have practical consequences for those who believe in it.
D) If everyone believes in something, then that thing exists.
E) Whatever is true of money is true of financial markets generally.
The conclusion of the editorialist's argument can be properly drawn if which one of the following is assumed?
A) Anything that exists would continue to exist even if everyone were to stop believing in it.
B) Only if one can have mistaken beliefs about a thing does that thing exist, strictly speaking.
C) In order to exist, an entity must have practical consequences for those who believe in it.
D) If everyone believes in something, then that thing exists.
E) Whatever is true of money is true of financial markets generally.
01 Oct 2019, 05:00
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deepti1206
A universal loss of belief in it will make money disappear.
We witness this phenomenon on a small scale daily in the rises and falls of financial markets.
Conclusion: Money does not exist.
We are concluding that money does not exist by saying that if people stop believing in it, it will disappear. So we are assuming that if something disappears because of lost beliefs, it doesn't really exist. We are assuming that anything that exists should continue to exist even if people stop believing in it. If it disappears when people stop believing in it, it doesn't exist.
We need a sufficient assumption.
A) Anything that exists would continue to exist even if everyone were to stop believing in it.
Correct. As discussed above, we are assuming that anything that exists would continue to exist even if people did not believe in it.
B) Only if one can have mistaken beliefs about a thing does that thing exist, strictly speaking.
We don't know whether beliefs are mistaken or not hence this is irrelevant.
C) In order to exist, an entity must have practical consequences for those who believe in it.
We don't know what is meant by the term practical consequences. Irrelevant.
D) If everyone believes in something, then that thing exists.
No. The argument says that if everyone stops believing in something and that makes the thing disappear, then the thing doesn't really exist in the first place. The argument says that money doesn't exist even though people believe in it. It says that this because if tomorrow people stop believing in it, it will disappear. Our argument talks about what happens when people stop believing in a thing. So a statement that tells us what happens when people believe in something is irrelevant.
E) Whatever is true of money is true of financial markets generally.
We would have given it a thought if it were reversed - whatever is true of financial markets, is true of money. But as given, this is irrelevant.
Answer (A)
01 Dec 2021, 16:30
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deepti1206
EXPLANATION FROM POWER PREP
The editorialist's conclusion is that money does not really exist. His evidence for this conclusion is the observation that money would disappear if no one believed in anymore. The example of money disappearing everyday because of fluctuations of financial markets establishes that money can indeed disappear:
- Premise: No Belief in $ → $ Disappears
(Loss of belief in money is sufficient to make it disappear)
Premise: $ Disappears
Conclusion: $ Does Not Exist
(Money does not really exist)
To justify this conclusion, you need to connect the premises to the conclusion:
- Justify Formula: $ Disappears → $ Does Not Exist
Alternatively, you can look for the logical equivalent of this statement, i.e. that if money existed, then it would never disappear. This inference most closely matches the statement given in answer choice (A), which is the correct answer.
Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice. See discussion above. This is the contrapositive of the conditional chain needed to establish the conclusion. Do not be misled by the extreme language of the answer: this is a common feature of correct answers in Justify the Conclusion questions, as their goal is to definitively prove the conclusion.
Answer choice (B): Having mistaken beliefs about a thing is not a necessary condition required by the conclusion of this argument. In fact, the author never mentions mistaken beliefs about money. This answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (C): While the author mentions the importance of money in our lives, it is unclear why practical consequences would be required for its existence, or how such a requirement would justify the conclusion. This answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (D): This is a Mistaken Reversal of the conditional reasoning upon which the argument depends. Existence requires belief, not the other way around. This answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (E): This answer choice is easy to eliminate quickly as it fails to address either of the critical elements from the stimulus that are needed to justify the conclusion.
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