The legal system rests on the assumption that people use conscious del

Question

Passage A

The legal system rests on the assumption that people use conscious deliberation when deciding how to act—that is, in the absence of external duress, people freely decide ho-W to act. But behaviors--even high-level behaviors—can take place in the absence of free will. For example, someone with a neurological disorder might form a facial expression without choosing to do so.

The crucial legal question is whether all of our actions are fundamentally beyond our control or whether some little bit of you is "free" to choose, independent of the rules of biology. After all, as neurologists tell us, there is no spot in the brain that is not densely interconnected with—and driven by other brain parts. And that suggests that no part is independent and therefore "free."

One thing seems clear: if free will does exist, it has little room in which to operate. It can at best be a small factor riding on top of vast neural networks shaped by genes and environment. In fact, free will may end up being so small that we eventually think about bad decision-making in the same way we think about any physical affliction.

Blameworthiness should thus be removed from the legal argot. It is a backward-looking concept that demands the impossible task of untangling the hopelessly complex web of genetics and environment in order to isolate a factor of free will that may or may not exist. Instead of debating culpability, the legal system has to become  forward looking , and address how an accused lawbreaker is likely to behave in the future.

Passage B

Here is a paradox: if people lack free will, then how can the law be moved away from what seems to be a deeply  entrenched  reliance on blame-related concepts  Rational  arguments will only get you so far. Clinical research indicates that people will often continue to make moral judgments even when they are  conditioned  to think that human behavior is determined by physical processes. The blaming urge is deeply rooted in the human psyche, and I have considerable doubt that any amount of scientific evidence can remove it from our criminal justice processes.

We have. of course, tried this before.  Rehabilitation  was widely accepted by criminal justice experts in the mid-twentieth century. But public support waned, and a retributive  backlash  occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. Criminal behavior may be a matter of biology, not choice, but the public seems unwilling to incorporate this idea into the law.

My sense is that blaming performs some useful social function, even if it is in some way "false." Blaming seems too intrinsically a part of the social life of human beings for me to see it as a worthless appendage that can be harmlessly amputated. As the criminal justice system confronts the challenges of brain science, it should also seek a better understanding of why people blame and try to continue to respect the underlying social needs.    1 
 1. Both passages are primarily concerned with answering which one of the following questions?

(A) Does the public support rehabilitation over retribution as the purpose of criminal justice?
(B) Is the existence of free will compatible with the findings of brain science?
(C) Does the legal system require the assumption that people choose freely?
(D) Should the concept of blame be removed from criminal justice procedures?
(E) Is criminal behavior comparable to a physical affliction?

2 
 2. Which one of the following most accurately describes the attitude of the author of passage B toward the type of argument presented in passage A?

(A) sympathy with the premises, accompanied by doubts about the feasibility of the policy those premises are used to support.
(B) intellectual acceptance, coupled with fear of the consequences if such acceptance becomes widespread
(C) forceful rejection, both of the argument's conclusion and one or more of the premises on which it is based
(D) studied neutrality, with regard both to the conclusion and to the steps by which it is arrived at
(E) sympathy with the conclusion amid doubt that it follows from the premises

3 
 3. The meaning of the phrase "forward looking" ( Highlighted ) as it is used in passage A is most closely related to which one of the following concepts in passage B?

(A) entrenched ( Text in Red )
(B) rational ( Text in Red )
(C) conditioned ( Text in Red )
(D) rehabilitation ( Text in Red )
(E) backlash ( Text in Red )

4 
 4. It is most likely that the authors of the passages would disagree with each other about the truth of which one of the following statements?

(A) A significant portion of people's choices are made freely.
(B) If free will does not exist, criminal law should not assign blame for any action.
(C) People should be imprisoned for actions from which they are not free to refrain. . 
(D) Actions that are completely determined by physical processes are not free.
(E) It is easy to eliminate the concept of blame from everyday life.

5 
 5. Which one of the following, if true, would cast the most doubt on the argument in passage B?

(A) A new drug enables patients with a particular neurological disorder to exercise apparent control over their symptoms.
(B) In patients with a particular brain injury, the two hemispheres of the brain become causally isolated from one another.
(C) Subjects in a psychological experiment display random responses to a repeated stimulus.
(D) Some governments restrict the legal concept of blame to cases of disobedience to the authorities.
(E) There are societies that have no concept of blame.
 
 6 
 6. Which one of the following conforms to the policy advocated by the author of passage A but not advocated by the author of passage B?

(A) Parents should refrain from words and actions that could cause their children to feel ashamed of behavior that the parents regard as socially unacceptable.
(B)Prosecutors should be allowed to exclude jurors whose beliefs about free will make them unwilling to assign blame to anyone who is accused of a crime.
(C) The admissibility of expert testimony regarding a defendant's state of mind should be subject to strict guidelines.
(D) The findings of brain science should be viewed with suspicion, since they imply that the brain scientists themselves did not arrive at them by conscious deliberation.
(E) Courts should be allowed to consider a convicted criminal's motives to determine the likelihood that the criminal will offend again, but not to determine degree of culpability.

RC Butler 2023  -  Practice Two RC Passages Everyday.   
Passage # 63 Date: 16-Mar-2023
 This question is a part of RC Butler 2023 .  Click here for Details

Source:   LSAT Official PrepTest 86   
 Difficulty Level: Will be updated after 50+ timer attempts

Aniket179 · Answer

Hello,  Sajjad1994 . Can you please explain question-4?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

4. It is most likely that the authors of the passages would disagree with each other about the truth of which one of the following statements?

Explanation

Step 1: Identify the Question Type

The question asks for something about which both authors disagree, making this a Point at Issue question such as those found in Logical Reasoning.

Step 2: Research the Relevant Text

As this question does not focus on any speciõc concept, the entire passages are relevant. Instead of going back into the content, consider the big picture of both passages.

Step 3: Make a Prediction

Both authors agree about the fundamental issue of blame as a faulty concept. However, the most prominent disagreement is in their main points. The author of passage A suggests that blame should be removed from the legal system, while the author of passage B says blame should be kept in because it serves some unknown social beneõt. The correct answer will likely address the question of whether or not blame should be assigned in the legal system.

Step 4: Evaluate the Answer Choices

(B)  is the correct answer, as it addresses the debated question of assigning blame in the legal system.

(A)  is Out of Scope for passage B. The author of passage B only refers to criminal activity, not actions in general. Thus, the author of passage B oðers no opinion on this matter. And as they relate to just criminal activity, both authors would agree that most choices are not made freely.

(C)  is Out of Scope. Neither author addresses imprisonment.

(D)  is Out of Scope. The author of passage A doesn’t really get into actions that are  “completely determined by physical processes.”  And the author of passage B doesn’t address such actions at all.

(E)  is a Distortion. The authors are arguing about removing blame from the legal system, not from everyday life. And only the author of passage B discusses how easy or difficult that might be.

Answer: B

Kukee · Answer

Please explain Q 3. I didn't get it. I connected forward looking to rationality.

Posted from my mobile device

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

3. The meaning of the phrase "forward looking" (Highlighted) as it is used in passage A is most closely related to which one of the following concepts in passage B?

Explanation

Step 1: Identify the Question Type

The question asks for the meaning of a given phrase, which is a variation of Inference that tests vocabulary in context. However, instead of providing the meaning directly, the correct answer will be another term from elsewhere in the passage that conveys the same meaning.

Step 2: Research the Relevant Text

The question refers to the phrase  “forward looking”  in line 30. Start with that phrase and the surrounding lines for context. Then consider where the author of passage B discusses a similar concept.

Step 3: Make a Prediction

The author of passage A indicates that being  “forward looking”  involves considering how lawbreakers are  “likely to behave in the future.”  The only time passage B mentions future behavior of lawbreakers is in the third paragraph, in which the legal system experimented with rehabilitating criminals. The correct answer will likely refer to a term in that paragraph.

Step 4: Evaluate the Answer Choices

(D)  is correct, as it is the only choice that refers to something that looks at a lawbreaker’s future actions.

(A)  is a 180, as it refers to something that is already deeply rooted, not something that would occur in the future.

(B)  does not match. This merely describes a type of argument. It does not reflect how a certain group of people will behave in the future.

(C)  is a 180. This describes how people already think. It’s not about looking forward at how people will act in the future.

(E)  does not match. This describes a reaction to something that is already occurring. It does not indicate looking ahead to the future.

Answer: D

kop18 · Answer

Hi Sajjad1994,

Please can u help me with the explanation for the second question?

Thanks for your help!

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

2. Which one of the following most accurately describes the attitude of the author of passage B toward the type of argument presented in passage A?

Difficulty Level:   700-750

Explanation

Step 1: Identify the Question Type

The question asks for the  “attitude of the author of passage B.”  The answer to an author’s attitude question is never directly stated in the passage, but can be inferred by the author’s language. That makes this an Inference question.

Step 2: Research the Relevant Text

The question asks how the author of passage B would react to the argument made in passage A. The main argument of passage A is made in the last paragraph, and the question that conclusion raises is addressed throughout passage B.

Step 3: Make a Prediction

The argument in passage A is that blame should be removed from the legal system (lines 24–25). The author of passage B addresses that immediately by raising the question of whether it’s possible. The author of passage B directly claims to have “considerable doubt” that it can be done (lines 41–43), even if the the author of passage B agrees with the author of passage A that blame may be a “false” concept (line 52). Thecorrect answer will express the second author’s doubt, despite agreeing with the theoretical idea.

Step 4: Evaluate the Answer Choices

(A)  is correct, identifying the author’s fundamental agreement while also addressing the stated doubt.

(B)  is Out of Scope. The “intellectual acceptance” part holds up, but there’s no discussion of the fear of consequences of widespread acceptance.

(C)  is Extreme. The authors generally agree on a lot of the basic premises. And the author of passage B merely expresses some doubt. That hardly qualifies as  “forceful rejection.”

(D)  is a Distortion. The author of passage B has a number of opinions on the concepts discussed. That does not indicate neutrality.

(E)  is a Distortion. The author of passage B is sympathetic and does express doubt. However, the author of passage B only raises doubt about whether the other author’s recommendation would work. There is no criticism of the theoretical logic behind the argument.

Answer: A

The legal system rests on the assumption that people use conscious del

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The legal system rests on the assumption that people use conscious del

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