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Moralist: Immoral actions are those that harm other people. But since
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01 Nov 2021, 08:00
01 Nov 2021, 08:00
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Moralist: Immoral actions are those that harm other people. But since such actions eventually harm those who perform them, those who act immorally do so only through ignorance of some of their actions’ consequences rather than through a character defect.
Which one of the following is an assumption required by the moralist’s argument?
(A) People ignorant of their actions’ consequences cannot be held morally responsible for those consequences.
(B) An action harms those who perform it only if it also eventually harms others.
(C) Only someone with a character defect would knowingly perform actions that eventually harm others.
(D) Those who, in acting immorally, eventually harm themselves do not intend that harm.
(E) None of those who knowingly harm themselves lack character defects.
Which one of the following is an assumption required by the moralist’s argument?
(A) People ignorant of their actions’ consequences cannot be held morally responsible for those consequences.
(B) An action harms those who perform it only if it also eventually harms others.
(C) Only someone with a character defect would knowingly perform actions that eventually harm others.
(D) Those who, in acting immorally, eventually harm themselves do not intend that harm.
(E) None of those who knowingly harm themselves lack character defects.
Re: Moralist: Immoral actions are those that harm other people. But since
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09 Mar 2023, 23:20
09 Mar 2023, 23:20
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Bunuel wrote:
Moralist: Immoral actions are those that harm other people. But since such actions eventually harm those who perform them, those who act immorally do so only through ignorance of some of their actions’ consequences rather than through a character defect.
Which one of the following is an assumption required by the moralist’s argument?
(A) People ignorant of their actions’ consequences cannot be held morally responsible for those consequences.
(B) An action harms those who perform it only if it also eventually harms others.
(C) Only someone with a character defect would knowingly perform actions that eventually harm others.
(D) Those who, in acting immorally, eventually harm themselves do not intend that harm.
(E) None of those who knowingly harm themselves lack character defects.
Which one of the following is an assumption required by the moralist’s argument?
(A) People ignorant of their actions’ consequences cannot be held morally responsible for those consequences.
(B) An action harms those who perform it only if it also eventually harms others.
(C) Only someone with a character defect would knowingly perform actions that eventually harm others.
(D) Those who, in acting immorally, eventually harm themselves do not intend that harm.
(E) None of those who knowingly harm themselves lack character defects.
Context:
Immoral actions are those that harm others.
Premise:
But eventually they harm the perpetrator.
Conclusion:
Hence, people do immoral actions out of ignorance, not out of character defect.
Note the gap in logic here. Premises only tell us that immoral actions harm the people performing them. We are concluding from that people do immoral actions out of ignorance. So we are assuming that people do not knowingly commit actions that harm them. That people will not intentionally harm themselves.
(A) People ignorant of their actions’ consequences cannot be held morally responsible for those consequences.
The argument doesn't say whether people should be held responsible for their actions or not. It just focuses on why people commit immoral actions.
(B) An action harms those who perform it only if it also eventually harms others.
Not an assumption. We are given that actions that harm others eventually harm the people who commit them. They have tried to twist these words to confuse us with some non-sensical logic.
(C) Only someone with a character defect would knowingly perform actions that eventually harm others.
Why people perform actions that harm others is not discussed. We are discussing that people will not perform actions that harm themselves.
(D) Those who, in acting immorally, eventually harm themselves do not intend that harm.
Correct. We are assuming that people do not intentionally harm themselves. Our conclusion depends on it.
(E) None of those who knowingly harm themselves lack character defects.
We are assuming that people do not harm themselves knowingly.
We are not assuming anything about people who knowingly harm themselves. As per our argument, people do not harm themselves knowingly.
"Character defects" is the reason usually allocated to people who perform immoral actions. But the real reason is ignorance, claims the argument. So who has character defects and who doesn't? That is out of scope for us.
Answer (D)
Re: Moralist: Immoral actions are those that harm other people. But since
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06 Nov 2021, 07:00
06 Nov 2021, 07:00
Expert Reply
Bunuel wrote:
Moralist: Immoral actions are those that harm other people. But since such actions eventually harm those who perform them, those who act immorally do so only through ignorance of some of their actions’ consequences rather than through a character defect.
Which one of the following is an assumption required by the moralist’s argument?
(A) People ignorant of their actions’ consequences cannot be held morally responsible for those consequences.
(B) An action harms those who perform it only if it also eventually harms others.
(C) Only someone with a character defect would knowingly perform actions that eventually harm others.
(D) Those who, in acting immorally, eventually harm themselves do not intend that harm.
(E) None of those who knowingly harm themselves lack character defects.
Which one of the following is an assumption required by the moralist’s argument?
(A) People ignorant of their actions’ consequences cannot be held morally responsible for those consequences.
(B) An action harms those who perform it only if it also eventually harms others.
(C) Only someone with a character defect would knowingly perform actions that eventually harm others.
(D) Those who, in acting immorally, eventually harm themselves do not intend that harm.
(E) None of those who knowingly harm themselves lack character defects.
EXPLANATION FROM Fox LSAT
How does this guy know I would never intentionally harm myself? Even if his facts are valid (immoral actions are those that harm other people; these actions eventually harm oneself) that does not justify his conclusion that anybody that does an immoral act must be ignorant of the harm that results. Maybe I know I’m only hurting myself every time I sneak behind the church for a cigarette. Maybe a crackhead knows he's hurting himself every time he steals a car stereo to pay for crack. Maybe he knows it, and just doesn't give a ****.
We’re asked to identify a Necessary Assumption, and I’m pretty sure we’ve already nailed it. The moralist has assumed that I would never intentionally harm myself. If that’s not true—if it is possible that I would intentionally harm myself—then how could the moralist’s argument possibly make sense?
A) No, the argument is simply not about holding people “morally responsible.”
B) This isn’t what we’re looking for. It has some of the right words, but they’re arranged in a useless order.
C) I really think the character defect thing is just a red herring. We need an answer that says, as clearly as possible, “Nobody would intentionally harm themselves.” This isn’t it.
D) There we go. This one basically says, “Nobody would intentionally harm themselves.” If this answer is untrue, then it’s possible that I just don’t give a **** if I’m harming myself, which would ruin the moralist’s argument. That means this statement is “necessary” to the argument.
E) Nope, D was exactly what we were looking for, and this isn’t. This is a question where it’s really not worth analyzing the incorrect answer choices. You either affirmatively identify the correct answer (probably before even looking at the answer choices) or you’re going to struggle. Sorry, but there’s no way around that. Practice, and you’ll get there.
The answer is D.
