Anger in response to insults is unreasonable, for insults are merely a

Question

Anger in response to insults is unreasonable, for insults are merely assertions that someone has undesirable characteristics. If such an assertion is false, the insulted party ought to pity the ignorance prompting the insult. If it is true, the insulted party should be grateful for such useful information.

Which one of the following, if assumed, enables the argument’s conclusion to be properly drawn?

(A) Actions prompted by ignorance do not warrant hostile reactions.

(B) Anger is an unreasonable response to useful information.

(C) Anger is an unreasonable response to any action that should prompt pity or gratitude.

(D) Gratitude and pity are reasonable responses to some forms of hostile or insensitive behavior.

(E) Pity is the only reasonable reaction to people with undesirable characteristics.

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

EXPLANATION FROM POWER PREP

The author concludes that anger in response to insults is unreasonable, because insults should provoke either pity or gratitude. As with most Justify stimuli, there is a gap between the premises and the conclusion: what if it’s reasonable to feel anger alongside pity or gratitude? The correct answer should fill in this gap by proving that anger is an unreasonable response to  any  action that prompts pity or gratitude. If added to the premises, such an answer would be sufficiently strong to  prove  the conclusion as true. Answer choice (C) is therefore correct.

Answer choice (A): Even if we assume that anger is indeed a hostile reaction, this answer choice would be more appropriate as a response to an Assumption question, since the conclusion depends on it. Indeed, if actions prompted by ignorance  did  warrant anger, the conclusion would be seriously undermined. This, however, is not an Assumption question. When added to the premises, the correct answer to a Justify the Conclusion question must  prove  the conclusion as true. Since this answer choice focuses on actions prompted by ignorance only, we still don't know whether actions evoking gratitude would warrant anger or not. This answer choice is therefore incorrect.

Answer choice (B): As with answer choice (A), this would be a good contender for an Assumption question. However, since it addresses only our response to useful information, this answer choice leaves us guessing as to whether actions evoking pity should warrant anger or not.

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. See discussion above.

Answer choice (D): This answer choice merely restates the premises of the argument and is incorrect.

Answer choice (E): This answer choice is irrelevant to proving the conclusion and incorrect.

Bunuel · Answer

EXPLANATION FROM Fox LSAT

The conclusion here is, “Anger in response to insults is unreasonable.” I know this is the conclusion because the rest of the argument seems designed to support that assertion.  Why  is anger in response to insults unreasonable? Well, because “insults are merely assertions that someone has undesirable characteristics.” Uh, so what? If someone says to me, “You drop way too many effbombs while teaching your LSAT class,” can’t that still make me mad? The author continues: “If such an assertion is false, the insulted party ought to pity the ignorance prompting the insult.” Hmm. So if I really don’t swear that much while teaching, then I should just ignore the insult? Why shouldn’t someone’s ignorance make me angry? I don’t buy this point. The author then says, on the other hand, “If   is true, the insulted party should be grateful for such useful information.” Hmm. So if I really do swear too much in class, I should be grateful when someone points this out to me? Well, what if I already know I swear too **** much, and I just can’t **** help myself? And what if it’s nobody’s **** business what I do in my own **** classroom?

Obviously, I disagree with the logic here. Whether the insult is true or false, I can make the argument that I should still have license to be angry.

The question now asks me to find an additional premise that, if true, would enable the argument’s conclusion to be properly drawn. This means “ prove the conclusion. ” So I have to switch sides now. Even though I think the argument is bullshit, I have to join the other team and try to make the conclusion follow from the given facts. I’m looking for a  sufficient  condition here. What additional fact, if true, would force the conclusion of this stupid argument to be true?

I think a good answer would be something like, “Anger is never an appropriate response to anyone’s assertion.” If this is true, and if insults are always assertions, then I am never justified in being angry when someone insults me.

A) This can’t be the answer, because it doesn’t address the possibility that the insult might be true.

B) This can’t be the answer, because it doesn’t address the possibility that the insult might be false. Note that A and B together might make a complete answer. That’s a very good sign that they are both wrong.

C) Okay, this seems like a combination of both B and C. If the insult is true, then I can’t be mad because I should be grateful. And if the insult is false, then I can’t be mad because I should feel pity. This is the best answer so far.

D) Just because gratitude and pity  are  reasonable responses doesn’t mean anger is  not  a reasonable response. This answer could only be used to prove that gratitude and pity are appropriate responses; it could never be used to prove that anger is wrong.

E) This is completely off the mark because it has nothing to do with how someone should respond to an insult. This answer choice could possibly be used to prove that one should never insult anyone, but that’s an entirely different argument.

Our answer is C.

sudarshan22 · Answer

+1 for   C  .

Conclusion   :
Anger in response to insults is unreasonable, since insult provokes the insulted party to feel either pity or gratefulness.

(C) Anger is an unreasonable response to any action that should prompt pity or gratitude. -->   Correct , negate the statement and see how it affects the aforementioned conclusion.
 
Hence,   C  .

AshutoshB · Answer

I really got confused by OA ,   To me, Answer C seem like the definition of anger that "Anger is an unreasonable response to any action that should prompt pity or gratitude."

If Anger is an unreasonable response to pity then Anger in response to an Insult is not unreasonable  
 
it would be better if option C were like "Anger I to any action that should prompt pity or gratitudes an unreasonable response"

PriyankaPalit7 · Answer

gmat1393 ,  GMATNinja ,  GMATNinjaTwo ,  nightblade354

Can anyone explain why B is incorrect?

nightblade354 · Answer

PriyankaPalit7 , this is a sufficient assumption question, not a necessary assumption question. Necessary assumption questions are the ones you will see on the GMAT; the sufficient assumptions are seen only on the LSAT. They are more like evaluate questions in the sense that you cannot negate to get the answer

VerbalBot · Answer

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Anger in response to insults is unreasonable, for insults are merely a

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