Mab6q Wrote:I feel the explanations above for B aren't adequate. Can we get more discussion on why it's incorrect. Besides the flaw in E, I thought the argument also assumes that behavior was altruistic because it appeared to be so. Isn't that a flaw? That seems to be what the last sentence is doing. I understand that the argument is about what is not altruistic, but that premise IS about what is altruistic.
I'll see if I can do a good breakdown here. To start, self-interested is the exact opposite of altruism.
Behavior appearing to be altruistic can be understood as reinforcing belief in one's usefulness
+
This is a clearly self-interested motivation
-->
There is no genuinely altruistic behavior
There are two big flaws I see, the first one I had noticed and the second one I just now noticed.
(1) Who's to say that action "understood as" selfish is indeed selfish? Maybe our understandings of an action are skewed.
(2) This is a very BIG conclusion (there is NO altruistic behavior, EVER) but is based on very limited evidence. It just talks about behavior that "appears to be" altruistic. What about behavior that doesn't appear altruistic? Could that be actually altruistic?
(A) This is actually the opposite of what is happening. The author does not presuppose that anyone acting out of self-interest is actually being ALTRUISTIC. Instead, the author is saying that anyone acting out of apparent self-interest is NOT being altruistic. Eliminate.
(B) This is very similar to (A) but slightly different. It can also be broken down conditionally: (Seems altruistic) --> (Is altruistic). We have satisfied the sufficient condition by the stimulus ("Behavior that appears to be altruistic..."). However, the author is actually saying ~(Is altruistic). In fact, the author says there is NO genuinely altruistic behavior. Eliminate.
(C) We aren't really concerned with this. We are more concerned with altruism and what constitutes it. However, even if we did consider this, so what? The author just gives one necessary condition for self-esteem. So what if there are others? Eliminate.
(D) Not useful to us. Eliminate.
(E) Just about perfect. This can be broken down conditionally too: Interpreted Self-Interested --> In Fact Self-Interested (aka, ~altruistic). We satisfy the sufficient condition with the premises and we satisfy the necessary condition with the conclusion. This is a very cookie-cutter, straightforward answer.
How does that look?