self-understanding

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self-understanding

by thephoenix » Sat May 22, 2010 3:40 am
Many people do not understand themselves, nor do they try to gain . These people might try to understand others, but these attempts are sure to fail, because without self-understanding it is impossible to understand others. It is clear from this that anyone who lacks self-understanding will be incapable of understanding others.
The reasoning in the argument is flawed because the argument
(A) mistakes something that is necessary to bring about a situation for something that in itself is enough to bring about that situation
(B) fails to take into account the possibility that not everyone wants to gain a thorough understanding of himself or herself
(C) blames people for something for which they cannot legitimately be held responsible
(D) makes use of the inherently vague term "self-understanding" without defining that term
(E) draws a conclusion that simply restates a claim given in support of that conclusion
Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by grockit_andrea » Sat May 22, 2010 1:39 pm
I'd say E for this one. The final sentence is the conclusion: "It is clear from this that anyone who lacks self-understanding will be incapable of understanding others." This is almost an exact duplicate of the preceding statement: "without self-understanding it is impossible to understand others." This kind of circular argument isn't terribly common, but you do see it every now and then on the GMAT.
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