Is there a method to this?

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ov25: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 201; Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2010 2:23 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 7 times

by ov25 » Sun Oct 17, 2010 6:10 pm

Essayist: Only happiness is intrinsically valuable; other things are valuable only insofar as they contribute to happiness. Some philosophers argue that the fact that we do not approve of a bad person's being happy shows that we value happiness only when it is deserved. This supposedly shows that we find something besides happiness to be intrinsically valuable. But the happiness people deserve is determined by the amount of happiness they bring to others. Therefore, ______
Which one of the following most logically completes the final sentence of the essayist's argument?
(A) the notion that people can be deserving of happiness is ultimately incoherent
(B) people do not actually value happiness as much as they think they do
(C) the judgment that a person deserves to be happy is itself to be understood in terms of happiness
(D) the only way to be assured of happiness is to bring happiness to those who have done something to deserve it
(E) a truly bad person cannot actually be very happy

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Sun Oct 17, 2010 6:10 pm

Amit@EconomistGMAT: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 23; Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 1:40 amFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 10 times

by Amit@EconomistGMAT » Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:39 am

This is a 'Complete the Argument' question, where the missing part follows a conclusion word (therefore). The answer choices will hence be conclusions and we have to choose the most logical one, which makes this an Inference question in disguise.

The argument in an Inference question contains only premises that build up to the conclusion - the correct answer choice. This allows me to read the argument without looking for conclusions or assumptions or flaws in the internal reasoning. Calling it into question is simply not required of me - what's required is that I find the conclusion that stems from all this data.

Then I strip down wordiness and style and keep only pure data:

(1) Only happiness is valuable
(2) But we don't like undeserving people to be happy
(3) So allegedly not only happiness is valued, but also the thing that makes people worthy of it
(4) But the thing that makes people worthy of it is how much happiness they bring

Now it becomes clearer what the author is trying to say and what would be her/his conclusion - even deservedness is measured in happiness. The answer choice which most reflects this is C.

Amit Moshe
Verbal Section Instructor
Economist GMAT

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