#10 - Every political philosopher of the early twentieth

[rameday]

Hello,

How would you correctly diagram the correct answer choice? Would it be if you advocate a totalitarian state you are not a 20th century socialist political philosopher?

A

[Dave Killoran]

Hi A,

Since it's a holiday here, I'm going to refer you to a prior post about this same question: [Admin note: this post has been merged with the thread explaining this question.]

Please check that out and let me know if it helps Thanks!

[lbayliyeva@unm.edu]

Why is choice D is considered the correct answer and not a MR?

The diagram states that: socialist political philosopher or communist political philosopher > influenced by Rose Luxembourg > non-totalirian state

Answer D states,
political philosopher who was influenced by Rosa Luxembourg > not a socialist > communist

In our original diagram, 'socialist or communist political philosopher' comes before 'influenced by Rose Luxembourg.'

[Luke Haqq]

Let's diagram out the question. So we have:

(1) political philosopher of early 20th cent. AND socialist/communist influenced by Rosa Luxemburg

contrapositive: not influenced by RL not PP of 20th cent OR not socialist/communist

(2) influenced by RL not advocate of totalitarian state

whenever we have a proposition of the form A not B, we can re-write it as A B. So:

influenced by RL advocate of totalitarian state

You can combine (1) and (2) to reach the inference,

PP of 20th century AND socialist/communist not advocate of totalitarian state.

If that's right, though, it must be a typo if (D) is indicated as the correct answer choice. The right answer choice according to this reasoning would be (A). I'll see if PowerScore has noted the typo for the future, because you're certainly right to note that (D) appears to be a mistaken reversal.

[rameday]

Yes it did but now I have a follow up question.

In a chain relationship for ex/

x y not z

is the contrapositive of the chain
z y not x

or is it

z not y not x

For some reason I thought it was the former but based on the contrapositive drawn on the explanation for this question, the latter is correct.

A

[Ron Gore]

Hi Rameday,

You ask:

In a chain relationship for ex/

x y not z

is the contrapositive of the chain
z y not x

or is it

z not y not x

Remember that describing the contrapositive requires two steps. You've got to both: 1) reverse the terms; and 2) negate the terms. Your version of the contrapositive properly reversed all of the terms but failed to negate the Y. That is the only difference between your version and the correct version.

Thanks,

Ron

[rameday]

I see.

Thanks!

[afranden]

I'm a bit confused on this one...in the stim it says

"every political philosopher of the early 20th century, who was with a socialist or a communist as influenced by Rosa Luxembourg."

The way I understood this, was that if you were a 20th century philosopher, and in addition you were a communist or socialist, you were influenced...etc. This wording leads me to think that there were other 20th century philosophers who were not exclusively socialist or communist. I guess ultimately this confuses me as I initially dismissed A, the credited answer, as I felt the language was too strong, particularly based on my interpretation of the stimulus.

Where did I go wrong?!

[David Boyle]

I'm a bit confused on this one...in the stim it says

"every political philosopher of the early 20th century, who was with a socialist or a communist as influenced by Rosa Luxembourg."

The way I understood this, was that if you were a 20th century philosopher, and in addition you were a communist or socialist, you were influenced...etc. This wording leads me to think that there were other 20th century philosophers who were not exclusively socialist or communist. I guess ultimately this confuses me as I initially dismissed A, the credited answer, as I felt the language was too strong, particularly based on my interpretation of the stimulus.

Where did I go wrong?!

Hello afranden,

First, the quote is more like, "Every political philosopher of the early 20th century who was either a socialist or a communist was influenced by Rosa Luxemburg." So, of course, there could be other 20th-Century philosophers who, as you say above, weren't necessarily socialist or communist. But answer A is correct, because if 1. Rosa influenced all the socialist or communist pol philos of that period, and 2. no one influenced by her supported totalitarianism, then 3. no pol philo of that time who was socialist could possibly support totalitarianism.

Hope this helps,
David

[jgray]

Second sentence... "No one who..." I negated Influenced by Luxemburg instead of negating totalitarian state. Can you refresh my memory on which condition you negate and why?
thanks