Skywalker18 wrote:
All correct except question 3 in 9 mins including almost 5 mins to read
Para 1- utilitarianism -- flaw
Para 2- Rawls's theory: Whatever arises from a fair procedure is just
Para 3- veil of ignorance- cake experiment
Para 4- Why it works
Para 5- primary goods- at least a minimum amount; redistribution of primary goods
4) The author's stance toward Rawls's theory is most accurately described as one of
(E) admiration for its ingenuity coupled with misgivings about some of its implications- Correct;
If we reject utilitarianism and its view about the aim of the good life, how can we know what justice requires? Rawls offers an ingenious answer.
Rawls again has a clever approach, beginning with his famous veil of ignorance.
Unfortunately, this is an inherently redistributionist idea, since the primary goods are not natural properties of human beings.
3) With which one of the following statements would both Rawls and the author of the passage be most likely to agree?
(A) There are situations in which it is permissible to treat the fulfillment of one person's preferences as more important than the fulfillment of the majority's preferences.
(B) Unless individuals set aside their own self-interest, they cannot make fair judgments about the distribution of goods.
(C) If an individual lacks a good, society must sometimes provide that good, even if this means taking it from others.
(D) Most people agree about which of the primary goods is the most valuable.
(E) It is fair to sacrifice the individual's interests if doing so will maximize the satisfaction of the majority.
In question 3, I chose option C but the OA is A. Please help. generis , other experts
Skywalker18 , Question 3 is hard because the author sneaks in a somewhat inconsistent
disapproval of Rawls' theory near the end of the passage.
By that time, we are probably inclined to believe that the author supports Rawls.
3) "With which ... statement would
both Rawls and
the author of the passage be most likely to agree?"
Answer (C) does not work. The author does not like one consequence of Rawls's theory: redistribution required by certain cases.
• According to Rawls, "everyone should get a least a minimum amount of primary goods."
About this very sentence, the author comments,
Unfortunately, this is an inherently redistributionist idea..."
(I can see from your notes that you caught the sentence. I would bet that your mind, at that point
primed to believe that the author would support Rawls, did not process the "unfortunately.")
• The author does
not agree with redistribution of goods—even of water
and even if, say, Ananya will die without it and Saanvi has more than enough water.
Redistribution means that if Ananya does not have any water; and if Saanvi has more than enough water;
then water must be redistributed from Saanvi to Ananya. Ananya will die without water.
Taking some water from Saanyi and giving it to Ananya is, according to the author,
"Unfortunately, ... an inherently redistributionist idea, [whose application is] at the expense of others if necessary."
-- Well, yes. So that Ananya can live, some water that Saanyi does not need is given to Ananya.
-- The water is redistributed.
For this author, taking water from Saanyi is unfortunate and at Saanyi's expense.
"At someone's expense" suggests
disadvantaging or victimizing someone, namely, Saanyi.
(Ananya's expense does not matter. Saanyi owned the water first.)
The author does not agree that "if an individual lacks a good, society must sometimes provide that good, even if this means taking it from others."
Answer (C) does not work.
Now what to do?
• One tactic is to go back and look at text we might instinctively avoid or overlook.
One hint in (A) comes from the word "majority."
Utilitarians believe in the greatest good for the greatest number (the majority in that situation).
•
The mob example. Utilitarians would have to endorse
the execution of an innocent person to appease a mob.
Rawls rejects this position.
The author likewise calls endorsing the execution
"incredible"—impossible to believe.
In this situation, the innocent person should not be executed.
Answer A is our best bet:
(A) There are
situations in which it is
permissible to treat the fulfillment of
one person's preferences as
more important than the fulfillment
of the majority's preferences.The innocent person should not be executed. Both Rawls and the author reject the utilitarian argument in favor of execution. Preferences?
The innocent person's preference is to live—to avoid execution.
The mob's preference is to execute the innocent person.
In this situation, Rawls and the author would both agree that
the mob's preferences
should not be fulfilled and
are not as important as the preferences of
one innocent
person.
That agreement supports answer (A).
I hope that analysis helps.