#10 - Critic: Some writers have questioned Stalin’s sanity

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Point at Issue. The correct answer choice is (E)

While Stalin's cruel ways were generally characterized as paranoia and morbid suspiciousness by writers who questioned the leader's sanity, the critic in this stimulus holds that Stalin had to develop his harsh ways in order to continue his tyrannical rule.

Answer choice (A): This issue is not discussed and thus cannot represent the point at issue in the stimulus.

Answer choice (B): The critic and those referenced agree that Stalin displayed morbid suspiciousness; the disagreement surrounds the basis of this facet of Stalin's.

Answer choice (C): This comparison of relative factors is not made in the stimulus.

Answer choice (D): The point at issue is not whether tyranny tends to lead to cruelty, just whether Stalin's cruel ways were attributable to Stalin's psychological state or to necessity as a tyrant.

Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. Whereas many in the past characterized Stalin's cruel nature in psychological terms, the critic in the stimulus believes that this nature was cultivated as a necessity of his political position.

[LSAT2018]

Given the answer E, how is the part 'primary cause' justified? Isn't the word primary too strong?

[Adam Tyson]

I don't think so, LSAT2018. The writers seem to think his cruel misdeeds were limited to his later years and that they were caused by his declining sanity. The author thinks they were a normal part of the entire period of his rule and were caused by his need to stay in power (for without them he would not have stayed in power). "Primary cause" seems right, as no other cause is mentioned by either the writers or the author.

[miriamson07]

My question seems to have been addressed in the above conversation, but I am still unclear on this : Wouldn’t it be an assumption to say that the morbid suspiciousness was primarily due to Stalin’s political condition? The passage says that morbid suspicion needs to be a characteristic of tyrants — but it does not say that morbid suspicion is necessarily caused by status as a tyrant. Wouldn’t it be somewhat of a correlation-causation flaw to assume that the morbid suspicion is primarily due to political condition rather than other factors, such as psychological state?

Thank you in advance for your help.

[Adam Tyson]

I think you may be confusing two things here, miriamson07: "morbid suspiciousness" and "cruel misdeeds." The author isn't saying that being a tyrant caused him to be morbidly suspicious; they are saying that being a morbidly suspicious tyrant caused him to perform cruel misdeeds. Meanwhile, the writers are saying it was insanity that caused that cruel behavior.