Some argue that laws are instituted at least in part to help establish

Question

Some argue that laws are instituted at least in part to help establish a particular moral fabric in society. But the primary function of law is surely to help order society so that its institutions, organisations, and citizenry can work together harmoniously, regardless of any further moral aims of the law. Indeed, the highest courts have on occasion treated moral beliefs based on conscience or religious faith as grounds for making exceptions in the application of laws.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following ?

(A) The manner in which laws are applied sometimes takes into account the beliefs of the people governed by those laws. 
(B) The law has as one of its functions the ordering of society but is devoid of moral aims. 
(C) Actions based on religious belief or on moral conviction tend to receive the protection of the highest courts. 
(D) The way a society is ordered by law should not reflect any moral convictions about the way society ought to be ordered. 
(E) The best way to promote cooperation among a society's institutions, organizations, and citizenry is to institute order in that society by means of law.

LighthousePrep · Accepted Answer

Hi Akhil,

I approached this question by first readying the question stem and then breaking the passage into its parts.

The question stem seems to be asking us to identify a conclusion that is supported by the premise(s) of the passage.

Now we look at the passage, and know that we need to identify the premise(s).

Irrelevant: Some argue that laws are instituted at least in part to help establish a particular moral fabric in society. But the primary function of law is surely to help order society so that its institutions, organisations, and citizenry can work together harmoniously, regardless of any further moral aims of the law. 
Premise: Indeed, the highest courts have on occasion treated moral beliefs based on conscience or religious faith as grounds for making exceptions in the application of laws.

Now we move to the answer choices and use a process of elimination. In cases where you are searching for a conclusion, it helps to apply a conclusion term in front of it, like "therefore" (whereas for premise searches, put words in front like "because").

A) The high courts have   treated moral beliefs   as a ground for making exception in the application of law,   The manner in which laws are applied sometimes takes into account the beliefs of the people governed by those laws.

This makes sense so I keep it as a possible answer.

B) The high courts have   treated moral beliefs   as a ground for making exception in the application of law,   The law has as one of its functions the ordering of society but is devoid of moral aims.

This doesn't make sense because the premise says that courts DO consider morality in legal decisions. Eliminate B.

C) The high courts have   treated moral beliefs   as a ground for making exception in the application of law,   Actions based on religious belief or on moral conviction tend to receive the protection of the highest courts.

This makes sense, so I keep it as a possible answer.

D) The high courts have   treated moral beliefs   as a ground for making exception in the application of law,   The way a society is ordered by law should not reflect any moral convictions about the way society ought to be ordered.

This is contradicting the premise, so I eliminate D.

E) The high courts have   treated moral beliefs   as a ground for making exception in the application of law,   The best way to promote cooperation among a society's institutions, organizations, and citizenry is to institute order in that society by means of law.

This conclusion does not support the premise. Eliminate E.

So, I am left with A and C, both very close choices.

Some distinctions:
A is more general and soft. "They take it into account" but don't necessarily "protect" it. "Sometimes" vs. "tend to"
C is more specific and a step further than the premise. "Actions based on beliefs" vs. "the beliefs." "Highest courts" vs. "manner in which laws are applied."

I think it could probably come close to either answer, but I can see why A is the better answer choice. Namely because of the distinction in "actions based on beliefs" vs. "beliefs" and the softer use of "sometimes" vs. "tend to" (since the premise says this is an "exception in the application of laws" not the norm).

Hope that helps!

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Answer (A).

Unlike many Must Be True question stimuli, this stimulus contains an argument. The conclusion is in the second sentence: “the primary function of law is surely to help order society so that its institutions, organizations, and citizenry can work together harmoniously, regardless of any further moral aims of the law.” The stimulus also begins with the “Some argue that...” construction, and as usual, is followed by a conclusion that argues against the position established in the first sentence (see “A Commonly Used Construction” in Chapter Two if this sounds unfamiliar). The last sentence is a premise that proves to be key for choosing the correct answer.

Answer choice (A): This correct answer is largely a paraphrase of the last sentence.

Answer choice (B): While the author certainly agrees with the first part of the sentence, in the second part the phrase “devoid of moral aims” is too strong to be supported by the information in the stimulus. The last sentence indicates that morality has some effect on the law and invalidates the “devoid” claim.

Answer choice (C): This is an exaggerated answer. Although the last sentence indicates that religious faith has been grounds for making exceptions in the application of law, the stimulus does not indicate that actions based on religious or moral belief tend to receive the protection of the highest courts.

Answer choice (D): The author indicates that the “primary function” of law is to help order society; the author does not indicate that this is the one and only function of law. The answer choice overstates the case by saying that a society ordered by law should not reflect any moral convictions about the ordering.

Answer choice (E): No mention is made of the “best way” to promote cooperation, only that the primary function of law is to promote such cooperation.

ChiGMAT · Answer

A is the only option that supports the argument and in a way paraphrases the argument. So the answer should be A.

yash88 · Answer

Hello Experts,

Please help why option D is incorrect

sayantanc2k · Answer

When a set of facts is given about how things actually ARE, it cannot be deduced how things SHOULD BE. Therefore option D is wrong.

sanghar · Answer

How would you choose between A and C?

sayantanc2k · Answer

The idea of the passage is as follows:
Statement 1:
Some claim: The aim of the law is (in some part) to establish a moral structure in the society.

Statement 2 (opposing statement 1):
BUT, The law is supposed to implement harmonious working systems - establishing moral systems is not the core objective of the law, but just an outcome in the process of implementation of such harmonious working system.

Statement 3: Moral grounds / religious beliefs sometimes override laws. (as per statement 2, law is supposed to be beyond moral or religious beliefs, but still on some occasions the reverse happens.)

The passage does not state that it tends to protect actions based on moral behaviors / religious grounds. Rather it states that moral / religious grounds are not the basis of laws - laws are to maintain harmonious working systems (regardless of religious / moral concerns). Only in exceptional cases, moral / religious grounds override laws. Hence C is not correct.

vijayram2496 · Answer

Can anyone please tell me the source of this question?

Posted from my mobile device

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

Some argue that laws are instituted at least in part to help establish

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Some argue that laws are instituted at least in part to help establish

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards