Question

That the remaining hundred thousand may, at a year old, be offered in sale to the persons of quality and fortune, through the kingdom, always advising the mother to let them suck plentifully in the last month, so as to render them plump, and fat for a good table.

–“A Modest Proposal,”
Jonathan Swift

What false premise does Swift rely on to build his argument in this passage?

There are many impoverished children in Ireland.
The wealthy will be willing to buy and consume children.
Children will be cheap enough for people to buy.
Women should have more children in order to build Ireland’s workforce.

Answer 1

"The wealthy will be willing to buy and consume children."

Swift's proposal depends on the absurd, false assumption that people of quality and fortune would purchase and eat Irish infants—an ironic, satirical device used to condemn the dehumanizing attitudes and callous economic logic of the ruling classes.