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655-705 (Hard)|   Assumption|      
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After a rebellion in a certain country was put down, the country's par 14 Aug 2019, 03:08
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Difficulty:

55% (hard)

Question Stats:

58% (01:33) correct 42% (01:47) wrong based on 498 sessions

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After a rebellion in a certain country was put down, the country's parliament debated how to deal with the defeated rebels. One side proposed that all the rebels be imprisoned in order to deter those who might be strongly tempted to rebel in the future. The other side argued against imprisonment because it would only discourage future insurrectionists from surrendering.

Both positions logically depend on the assumption that

(A) imprisonment is a harsh penalty
(B) a rebel will prefer a sentence of imprisonment to death
(C) there will be no future rebellion in the country
(D) it is unlikely that future rebels will surrender
(E) resistance to authority is weakened by harsh threats
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A
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Pradeepchauhan
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After a rebellion in a certain country was put down, the country's par 16 Aug 2019, 21:52
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One side is in support of imprisonment as it is a harsh punishment and other one is against because of same reason which will discourage the future rebellions to surrender

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Pradeepchauhan
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After a rebellion in a certain country was put down, the country's par 16 Aug 2019, 21:53
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One side is in support of imprisonment as it is a harsh punishment and other one is against because of same reason which will discourage the future rebellions to surrender

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After a rebellion in a certain country was put down, the country's par 23 Feb 2021, 19:08
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carcass
After a rebellion in a certain country was put down, the country's parliament debated how to deal with the defeated rebels. One side proposed that all the rebels be imprisoned in order to deter those who might be strongly tempted to rebel in the future. The other side argued against imprisonment because it would only discourage future insurrectionists from surrendering.

Both positions logically depend on the assumption that

(A) imprisonment is a harsh penalty
(B) a rebel will prefer a sentence of imprisonment to death
(C) there will be no future rebellion in the country
(D) it is unlikely that future rebels will surrender
(E) resistance to authority is weakened by harsh threats
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I believe harsh is too strong a word, what if nobody assumes that imprisonment is hard but they assume that imprisonment is effective?
Please help.
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After a rebellion in a certain country was put down, the country's par 24 Feb 2021, 01:48
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arya251294

I believe harsh is too strong a word, what if nobody assumes that imprisonment is hard but they assume that imprisonment is effective?
Please help.
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The argument makes it clear that both sides think imprisonment is harsh.

"One side proposed that all the rebels be imprisoned in order to deter those who might be strongly tempted to rebel in the future"
- Why will possible imprisonment be a deterrent? Because imprisonment is a harsh penalty. If imprisonment were not harsh, then possible imprisonment would not deter anyone

"The other side argued against imprisonment because it would only discourage future insurrectionists from surrendering"
- why would rebels be discouraged from surrendering? Because surrender would lead to imprisonment, and imprisonment is harsh. If imprisonment were not harsh, the rebels would surrender and go to prison. If imprisonment is harsh, the rebels will prefer to continue fighting than to surrender

Hope this helps!

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After a rebellion in a certain country was put down, the country's par 09 Jun 2024, 17:00
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