Question

All German philosophers, except for Marx, are idealists. From which of the following can the statements above be most properly inferred?

• A. Except for Marx, if someone is an idealist philosopher, then he or she is German.
• B. Marx is the only non-German philosopher who is an idealist.
• C. If a German is an idealist, then he or she is a philosopher, as long as he or she is not Marx.
• D. Marx is not an idealist German philosopher.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

To solve this problem, we need to analyze the statement: "All German philosophers, except for Marx, are idealists." Let's break it down:

• "All German philosophers, except for Marx, are idealists" implies that every German philosopher, excluding Marx, falls into the category of idealists.
• This does not explicitly mention anything about non-German idealists or about Marx's philosophical stance himself regarding all idealists.

We are seeking a statement that can properly be inferred from this given information. Let's evaluate the options:

• Option 1: "Except for Marx, if someone is an idealist philosopher, then he or she is German."
  This is not accurate because the original statement only comments on German philosophers, not idealist philosophers, implying nothing about whether non-German idealists exist.
• Option 2: "Marx is the only non-German philosopher who is an idealist."
  This statement is not supported by the original statement, which does not discuss the status of non-German philosophers.
• Option 3: "If a German is an idealist, then he or she is a philosopher, as long as he or she is not Marx."
  This can be inferred from the statement. If we know someone is German and an idealist, they must be a philosopher according to the given condition, except for Marx.
• Option 4: "Marx is not an idealist German philosopher."
  This statement directly contrasts the provided condition by focusing on Marx's status rather than the general correlation between Germans, idealists, and philosophers.

Among these, Option 3 aligns with the logical deduction of the provided information. Hence, the correctly inferred statement is:

If a German is an idealist, then he or she is a philosopher, as long as he or she is not Marx.