#3 - Many employers treat their employees fairly. Thus,

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below! Thank you!

[Naminyar]

Hello PowerScore,

I was bugged by the word “all” in the correct answer choice and ended up choosing A Just because I eliminated other four answers. Isn’t “all” too strong in answer choice C?
How can the author assume that all employers use their employees as a mean to their own ends? For instance: What about employers who hire employees for nonprofits?

[Claire Horan]

Hi Naminyar,

As standardized test-takers, we are taught to beware of answers that include words like "all" or "none." But the test-makers know that and sometimes include these words in the correct answer. For that reason, notice these words, test whether they are too strong, but do not have a knee-jerk reaction that any answer with "all" in it must be wrong. And actually, in this particular question, the correct answer choice reads "some or all," which really just means "not none" anyway.

Reading the stimulus, there is a logical gap between treating employees fairly and using them as a means to one's own ends.
The two ideas don't necessarily relate, so the assumption needs to connect them. Look for answer choices that connect the concepts of fair employers and "means to an end." No choices mention fairness, but that's okay because more than one assumption may be required for an argument to be valid. B, C, and E mention the "means to an end" idea, so we should consider those first.

Since this is an assumption question, we can use the assumption negation technique.

When we negate B, we get "some employers who act morally use their employees as a means to their own ends." Does this statement attack the conclusion?

The conclusion is that "using others as a means to one’s own ends is not always morally reprehensible or harmful to others."
The negation of B supports, rather than attacks the conclusion, so B cannot be the correct answer.

Next, try C. When we negate C, we get "no employers use their employees as a means to their own ends." This attacks the argument because it takes away any connection between the premise and the conclusion. This looks like our answer, but let's try E just to make sure.

The negation of E reads: "It is possible to harm someone else without treating that person as a means to one’s own ends." This does not attack the conclusion at all--the argument is concerned with whether using others as a means to one's own ends is harmful, not whether it's the only way to harm someone.

This was definitely a tricky one! Good luck with your studying!

[Naminyar]

Thanks Claire for the thorough explanation!

[Shaela L. Hayes]

PowerScore,

Why is answer choice A wrong? I see that it can be eliminated via the assumption negation technique, but is there another reason I could have seen before resorting to the technique?

[Poonam Agrawal]

Hi Shaela,

The thing that jumps out to me about answer choice (A) is the fact that we are primarily concerned with employers who treat their employees fairly, not employers who act in morally reprehensible ways. Answer choice (A) is a good example of an answer choice that seems tempting because it uses seemingly relevant terms, but the subject of the answer choice doesn't really relate back to the overall argument about treating employees fairly and as a means to an end.

The Assumption Negation Technique is a great strategy to use for these types of questions, but understanding the relevance of answer choices and their relation to the overall stimulus can help you save some time by eliminating before having to apply the technique. I hope that helps!