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Aristotle

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by usualsuspect » Thu Mar 19, 2009 4:55 am
Aristotle wrote that a tyrant would be well advised to put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are more tolerant of unjust treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-rearing and pious. Moreover as most subjects believe that even the gods are on the side of the ruler, the subjects are less apt to move against him.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which Aristotle’s argument depends?
(A) The subjects of tyrannical rulers typically believe that there is a power other than the mortal.
(B) A tyrant cannot rule unless he has divine power on his side.
(C) The subjects of tyrannical rulers can rarely be fooled by appearances.
(D) Tyrants who are devoted to religion will not treat their subjects unjustly.
(E) For a tyrant, the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion is a more effective means of ruling than unjust treatment.
Aëtou gēras, korydou neotēs.
"An eagle's old age (is worth) a sparrow's youth".
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by hashar » Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:03 am
I think the answer is A: This can be inferred from the line in the argument: "Moreover as most subjects believe that even the gods are on the side of the ruler"
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by bmlaud » Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:05 am
IMO D - That is why the subjects remained tolerant to the tyranny of rulers.
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by ssilver0210 » Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:31 am
Answer here is C.

The passage implies that if a Tyrant puts on the appearance of being devoted to religion, it will benefit the tyrant in a variety of ways. The only way that the conclusion will be valid, however, is if the tyrant's followers actually believe that the Tyrant is devoted to religion. The passage never mentions this, though, and merely assumes that the followers will believe the Tyrant when the Tyrant puts on that appearance.
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by Kunal_gmat » Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:04 am
I agree with hashar. As the second line states:
"Subjects are more tolerant of unjust treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-rearing and pious"
Why would this be? Because there obviously has to be difference between God and a normal human being (mortals) in terms of the divine powers. Hence, they would respect a tyrant with God on his/her side.
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by Kunal_gmat » Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:09 am
ssilver0210, I have some doubts regarding your explanation. (C) says

" The subjects of tyrannical rulers can rarely be fooled by appearances."

If they can rarely be fooled, that means putting up an appearance of uncommon devotion has a very slim chance of fooling them into believing that the tyrant has god on his/her side. Hence do not try putting up an appearance. This option may actually WEAKEN the argument very comprehensively ;-).
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by karmayogi » Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:13 am
IMO A. The options shows that the subjects believe in god or "a power other than the mortal."
Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divine within.
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by gmat620 » Thu Mar 19, 2009 2:11 pm
stuck between A and D, I choose A....OA plz
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by PinkBox » Thu Mar 19, 2009 4:42 pm
choice A bc if the subjects do not believe in g-d then the tyrant saying "i'm treating u this way bc g-d says so" wont work
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by matterover » Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:40 pm
Conclusion :
Subjects are more tolerant of unjust treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-rearing and pious.

the 'Moreover' part is again a premise..supporting the conclusion.

Is 'tyrant' the key word here..
As i understand a 'tyrant' almost always uses harsh and cruel treatment ... irrespective of whether he is god-fearing or not?

Now the key difference for subject is tyrant A who is religious and tyrant B who is not religious..
subjects are tolerant to A because he is religious and hence the subjects believe that he has more power?? Which gives us A.?

(A) The subjects of tyrannical rulers typically believe that there is a power other than the mortal.

BUT.
Just because they believe there is power beyond mortal does not mean i okay the unjust treatment.


(D) Tyrants who are devoted to religion will not treat their subjects unjustly.


subjects are okay with the unjust treatment because the tyrants themselves do not treat the subjects unjustly if devoted to religion.

Negate this. tyrants devoted to religion will treat the subjects unjustly.. If this were the case...this means always he will treat the subjects unjustly which is not well taken by the subjects.

Not too sure which one to go with???
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by usualsuspect » Fri Mar 20, 2009 12:34 am
Well the OA is A
Thanks guys for the explanations!
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by rahulajith » Wed Jun 05, 2013 10:56 pm
(A) The subjects of tyrannical rulers typically believe that there is a power other than the mortal. Correct. Subjects believe in God. Only if subjects believe in god, can they be fooled.
(B) A tyrant cannot rule unless he has divine power on his side. : Just says likely
(C) The subjects of tyrannical rulers can rarely be fooled by appearances. : Quite opposite. This cannot be an assumption. If inserted into the argument, conclusion will fail
(D) Tyrants who are devoted to religion will not treat their subjects unjustly. : un-related
(E) For a tyrant, the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion is a more effective means of ruling than unjust treatment. : Adding this assumption does not affect conclusion at all. We do not know if the tyrant really wants to rule or just do an unjust treatment. His intentions are irrelevant.
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