Every moral theory developed in the Western tradition purports

Question

Every moral theory developed in the Western tradition purports to tell us what a good life is. However, most people would judge someone who perfectly embodied the ideals of any one of these theories not to be living a good life— the kind of life they would want for themselves and their children.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following?

A. Most people desire a life for themselves and their children that is better than a merely good life.
B. A person who fits the ideals of one moral theory in the Western tradition would not necessarily fit the ideals of another.
C. Most people have a conception of a good life that does not match that of any moral theory in the Western tradition.
D. A good life as described by moral theories in the Western tradition cannot be realized.
E. It is impossible to develop a theory that accurately describes what a good life is.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

The paragraph basically states that -

Most people's concept of good life is different from that of every moral theory developed in the Western tradition.

The option that closely resembles this has to be the correct answer.

Option A -
the argument clearly states this - 
good life -- the kind of life they would want for themselves and their children.

We know that most people want a good life for themselves and their children. We have no idea whether they want something better than a "merely" good life.
hence, Incorrect.

Option B -
We cannot make this assumption. It is perfectly possible that all those theories agree on ideals. hence, incorrect.

Option C - 
Closely resembles the argument and hence is the correct answer.

Option D - 
We only know that most people would disagree with those moral theories on what a good life is. We have no idea whether good life as espoused by those theories is realizable or not. Hence, incorrect.

Option E - 
Cannot be inferred. Moreover, this talks about all theories, not just theories developed in the West. Hence, not relevant and incorrect.

zvazviri · Answer

We can eliminate A not supported by the facts in the passage. While this may be true in the real world, we have to go by the information in the passage.

We can eliminate D and E for being too extreme, outside the scope of the passage.

B is also incorrect because you cannot justify it in the passage. The passage is about how other people would judge others' ideals of a good life as falling short against their definition of good life.

Prateek176 · Answer

Read the following sentence closely
However, most people would judge someone who perfectly embodied  the ideals of any one of these theories  not to be living a good life
What does it mean?? It means that if I have embodied any one of the ideals of a theory, most people would still be of the opinion that I am not leading a good life. That's exactly what option C says
Option B is incorrect because the stimulus doesn't say that a person who has mastered ideals of a theory will be uncomfortable with other. Its the people who are judging that person have a problem

Doer01 · Answer

Premise : theories developed in western tradition describe what a good life is.
However, most people do not want the life of a person who is following any one of those theories.

Prethinking: why would one not want a good life? It is possible that they do not believe in the mentioned theories.
Let’s see.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following?

A. Most people desire a life for themselves and their children that is better than a merely good life.— duh! Who doesn’t. Not mentioned
B. A person who fits the ideals of one moral theory in the Western tradition would not necessarily fit the ideals of another.— sounds like another theory. Irrelevant
C. Most people have a conception of a good life that does not match that of any moral theory in the Western tradition.—bingo! This matches with our prethinking.
D. A good life as described by moral theories in the Western tradition cannot be realized.—no one said that.
E. It is impossible to develop a theory that accurately describes what a good life is. Exactly, but it’s irrelevant here.

So correct choice C

AkshdeepS · Answer

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following?

A. Most people desire a life for themselves and their children that is  better than a merely good life.

B. A person who fits the ideals of one moral theory in the Western tradition would not necessarily  fit the ideals of another.

C. Most people have a conception of a good life that does not match that of any moral theory in the Western tradition.

D.  A good life  as described by moral theories in the Western tradition  cannot be realized.

E. I t is impossible to develop a theory  that accurately describes what a good life is.

Using POE, it's (C)

ankur909090 · Answer

conclusion : most people believe that A person who is following the moral theory is not leading a good life.
Pre Thinking : may be the :  MOST  people belicve that moral theory is not good or following someone is not a good life apart from it there are no other options .

OPtions : 
A. Most people desire a life for themselves and their children that is better than a merely good life. - no connection with the argument given . 
B. A person who fits the ideals of one moral theory in the Western tradition would not necessarily fit the ideals of another. - don't gives the reason what most people believes.
C. Most people have a conception of a good life that does not match that of any moral theory in the Western tradition.- hold on for this option as it gives some connection to our prethinking .
D. A good life as described by moral theories in the Western tradition cannot be realized.- we are not bothered whether it can be realized or not .
E. It is impossible to develop a theory that accurately describes what a good life is.- it don't tells what most people thinks . it's just saying about the theories.

so option C is our answer.

Every moral theory developed in the Western tradition purports to tell us what a good life is. However, most people would judge someone who perfectly embodied the ideals of any one of these theories not to be living a good life— the kind of life they would want for themselves and their children.

KarishmaB · Answer

'Moral theory' tells us what 'good life' is. 
However, for most people applying these theories does not lead to a 'good life'. 
Most people want a 'good life'.

What can we conclude?

A. Most people desire a life for themselves and their children that is better than a merely good life.

Not said anywhere in the passage. Most people want a 'good life', not better than 'good life'.

B. A person who fits the ideals of one moral theory in the Western tradition would not necessarily fit the ideals of another.

Distinctions between theories not mentioned in the passage.

C. Most people have a conception of a good life that does not match that of any moral theory in the Western tradition.

Perfect. For most people, 'good life' means something different from what 'moral theories' preach.

D. A good life as described by moral theories in the Western tradition cannot be realized.

Not correct. In fact, the passage seems to say that one could embody the ideals of these theories. We don't know either way for sure.

E. It is impossible to develop a theory that accurately describes what a good life is.

Passage doesn't say that such a theory is not possible.

Answer (C)

ZiaulKarim · Answer

I have read the explanations very carefully and I still think B should be the correct answer. Here is my reasoning:
The explanation given for B not to be the correct answer is that we can't assume that the ideals of the moral theory are different. But if they ideals of different moral theories are same then doesn't it make them same moral theory? Although the argument doesn't clearly say that the moral theories are same or different but "every moral theory" implies that there are several moral theories, and if we assume that all of them are same aren't we still making an assumption that is not substantiated by the argument. 
Now, the reasoning given for answer choice C to be correct is that it matches the argument. But it clearly doesn't (in my point of view). The argument says "Most people would judge someone who perfectly embodied the ideals of any one of these theories not to be living a good life". Notice "any one of these theories" not "any of these theories".. it means that someone who embodied one theory (out of several possible) will be judged not to be living a good life. now if person X judges that person Y who is following one of the moral theories is not living a good life, then does it mean that person X believes that concept of good life doesn't match "any of" the theories?? Not necessarily, person X could subscribe to a different theory and therefore may believe that his theory matches with the concept of good life just the theory of person Y doesn't.

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The correct answer choice is (C).

This is a fact set. Note the strength of the modifiers in this stimulus—“every,” “most,” and “any.” We should be able to use this narrow scope to support a fairly strong statement, but be careful: the test makers know this too and they will supply several answer choices that are worded strongly. Make sure you select an answer that conforms to the facts.

Answer choice (A): The phrase “better than a merely good life” goes beyond the statements in the stimulus.

Answer choice (B): This answer is incorrect because we are not given information about how the moral theories are different, or if they different at all. The only detail we are told is that the theories all have one thing in common—they tell us what a good life is. Since the answer choice makes a claim based on differences between theories, it cannot be correct.

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer. At first glance, this answer choice may seem a bit strong in saying the conception would not match that of any moral theory. But, as discussed above, we can support this because the stimulus uses very strong language, specifically stating “most people would judge someone who perfectly embodied the ideals of any one of these theories not to be living a good life.”.

Answer choice (D): This answer is worded strongly but it quickly fails the Fact Test. Nothing is said to indicate that the life described by one of the moral theories cannot be realized.

Answer choice (E): This answer also has strong language, but it goes too far in saying that it is impossible to develop a theory that accurately describes a good life.

anud33p · Answer

1. Moral Theory developed in WT --> Good Life (Intent of every moral theory)
2. Follow Moral Theories developed in WT --> Not Good Life (People's perception)

A. Most people desire a life for themselves and their children that is better than a merely good life:  Better is not justified.  
B. A person who fits the ideals of one moral theory in the Western tradition would not necessarily fit the ideals of another:  Cannot be inferred.  
C. Most people have a conception of a good life that does not match that of any moral theory in the Western tradition:  Yes, contrapositive of Statement 2 => Good Life --> Cannot follow moral theories developed in WT. 
D. A good life as described by moral theories in the Western tradition cannot be realized:  Out of Scope 
E. It is impossible to develop a theory that accurately describes what a good life is:  Out of Scope

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

Every moral theory developed in the Western tradition purports

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Every moral theory developed in the Western tradition purports

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards