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GRE Verbal Reasoning
QUESTION #8140
Question 1
John Stuart Mill's discussion of the liberty of thought is most remembered for the danger of (i)_______: without challenge, opinions — even correct ones — become weak and flaccid. But Mill had a second concern: partiality and incompleteness. Since one's views, even in ideal conditions, tend to (ii)_______, and because opposing views rarely turn out to be completely (iii)_______, it is vital to seek out alternative perspectives.
Correct Answer Explanation
Blank (i): opinions growing weak without challenge = complacency (self-satisfied uncritical acceptance). Blank (ii): Mill's second concern is partiality — views that capture only part of truth — so opinions tend to embrace only a portion of the truth. Blank (iii): opposing views 'rarely turn out to be completely' wrong — so erroneous fits (rarely entirely false). 'Tendentiousness' and 'fractiousness' don't match the 'weak opinions' idea.
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