
byRituparna Nath Content Writer at Study Abroad Exams
Question: Every action has consequences and among the consequences of any action are other actions. And knowing whether an action is good requires knowing whether its consequences are good, but we cannot know the future, so good actions are impossible.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) Some actions have only other actions as consequences.
(B) We can know that past actions were good.
(C) To know that an action is good requires knowing that refraining from performing it is bad.
(D) Only actions can be the consequences of other actions.
(E) For an action to be good we must be able to know that it is good.
“Every action has consequences and among the consequences of any action” – is a GMAT Critical question. To answer the question, a candidate can by either finding a piece of evidence that would weaken the argument or logical flaws in the argument. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates. This topic requires candidates to find the argument's strengths and weaknesses or the logical flaw in the argument. The GMAT CR section contains 10 -13 GMAT critical reasoning questions out of 36 GMAT verbal questions.
Answer: C
Explanation: This is a GMAT critical reasoning question. An assumption is an implied hypothesis. So we are looking for something that is implied in the argument. In case it is wrong or maybe disable the argument.
The statement states-
Every action has consequences and among the consequences of any action are other actions. And knowing whether an action is good requires knowing whether its consequences are good, but we cannot know the future, so good actions are impossible.
(A) Some actions have only other actions as consequences.
The argument mentions that consequences are secondary to actions. So whether there are many consequences or some, it does not change the argument.
(B) We can know that past actions were good.
One cannot know that past actions were good. One might basically repeat a statement in an argument about not knowing the future. This negation doesn't destroy the argument
(C) To know that an action is good requires knowing that refraining from performing it is bad.
To know that an action is good requires not knowing that refraining from performing it is bad. This does not negate the given argument. The argument states that because one doesn’t know the future, it cannot know if something is good. Hence, the line of reasoning does not change the argument.
(D) Only actions can be the consequences of other actions.
Even if the consequences are not the result of the actions, it still does not change the statement.
(E) For an action to be good we must be able to know that it is good.
This statement cannot be negated because if an action is known to be good then its consequences need to be good which requires the person to know
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