The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
With the Treaty of Westphalia, the papacy had been confined to ecclesiastical functions, and the doctrine of sovereign equality reigned. What political theory could then explain the origin and justify the functions of secular political order? In his Leviathan, published in 1651, three years after the Peace of Westphalia, Thomas Hobbes provided such a theory. He imagined a "state of nature" in the past when the absence of authority produced a "war of all against all." To escape such intolerable insecurity, he theorized, people delivered their rights to a sovereign power in return for the sovereign's provision of security for all within the state's border. The sovereign state's monopoly on power was established as the only way to overcome the perpetual fear of violent death and war.
The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
With the Treaty of Westphalia, the papacy had been confined to ecclesiastical functions, and the doctrine of sovereign equality reigned. What political theory could then explain the origin and justify the functions of secular political order? In his Leviathan, published in 1651, three years after the Peace of Westphalia, Thomas Hobbes provided such a theory. He imagined a "state of nature" in the past when the absence of authority produced a "war of all against all." To escape such intolerable insecurity, he theorized, people delivered their rights to a sovereign power in return for the sovereign's provision of security for all within the state's border. The sovereign state's monopoly on power was established as the only way to overcome the perpetual fear of violent death and war.
Solution
From passage: "To escape such intolerable insecurity, he theorized, people delivered their rights to a sovereign power in return for the sovereign's provision of security"
The passage shows a clear cause and effect: People were in danger -> They gave up rights -> Sovereign gave them safety in return. This is a trade, not a voluntary choice.
Think of it like this: If someone is drowning, they don't voluntarily want to grab a rope - they need to grab it to survive.
🔴 Option 1 -> degree-error -> Says "voluntary desire" but passage shows it was necessity due to "intolerable insecurity." People didn't want to give up rights - they had to for survival.
🔴 Option 2 -> scope-error -> Says it was "to limit papacy power" but passage shows Hobbes was explaining secular political order in general, not targeting papacy specifically. Papacy was already limited by Treaty of Westphalia.
🟠 Option 3 -> partial-truth -> Gets the rights part right but uses "voluntary surrender" again. Misses the transactional nature (giving rights in return for security) and the necessity aspect.
🟢 Option 4 -> correct -> Captures both key elements: it's a transactional relationship (rights given in return for security) and it was necessitated by insecurity (not voluntary choice).
The key elimination trick: Look for words like "voluntary" vs "necessitated" - the passage clearly shows people were forced by circumstances, not choosing freely.