Ethicist: It would be a mistake to say that just because someone is not inclined to do otherwise, she or he does not deserve to be praised for doing what is right, for although we do consider people especially virtuous if they successfully resist a desire to do what is wrong, they are certainly no less virtuous if they have succeeded in extinguishing all such desires.
Question: The assertion that people are considered especially virtuous if they successfully resist a desire to do what is wrong plays which one of the following roles in the ethicist’s argument?
Options:
A. It is a claim for which the argument attempts to provide justification.
B. It makes an observation that, according to the argument, is insufficient to justify the claim that the argument concludes is false.
C. It is a claim, acceptance of which, the argument contends, is a primary obstacle to some people’s having an adequate conception of virtue.
D. It is, according to the argument, a commonly held opinion that is nevertheless false.
E. It reports an observation that, according to the argument, serves as evidence for the truth of its conclusion.
Answer: B