Many philosophers disagree over the definition of morality, but most

Question

Many philosophers disagree over the definition of morality, but most disputants fall into one of two categories: egocentrics, who define morality as the pursuit of self-fulfilment, and socio-centrics, who define morality as an individual's obligations to society. Where does the truth lie? Fortunately, the stem of the word "morality “provides some clues. The word "mores" originally referred to the customs of preliterate cultures. Mores, which embodied each culture's ideal principles for governing every citizen, were developed in the belief that the foundation of a community lies in the cultivation of individual powers to be placed in service to the community.These mores were concerned with such skills as food-gathering and warfare as well as an individual's relationships with others. Thus, "morality" must be concerned with what is honored the community at large. However, self-fulfilment is important to morality because unfulfilled citizens, no matter how virtuous, cannot perform the duties morality assigns them.   1 
 1. The primary purpose of this passage is to

A. summarize an argument
B. resolve a dispute
C. trace a word's origin
D. prove a hypothesis
E. initiate a debate

2 
 2. According to the passage, mores in pre-literate cultures concerned such skills as warfare and food-gathering because these skills were

A. characteristic of an individual's self-fulfilment
B. examples of a culture's traditions
C. manifestations of an individual's responsibilities
D. demonstrations of an individual's contributions to the community
E. examples of a community's governing principles

3 
 3. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements regarding socio-centrics and egocentrics?

A. The position of the socio-centrics is stronger than that of the egocentrics
B. The positions of the egocentrics and socio-centrics are of equal merit
C. There is no merit in the position of the egocentrics
D. Neither position contributes very much to an understanding of the definition of morality
E. The dispute between the egocentrics and socio-centrics is based on trivial issues

GaryGo · Answer

Answer of the first question can definitely not be C. I think the purpose of the author is to conclude the definition of morality by tracing the origin of the word. Tracing the origin is not the primary purpose

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Tannish3yadav · Answer

How can the answer be c...someone please explain

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Sejal16 · Answer

Please explain ques 1. How is C the answer ? It should be B.

globaldesi · Answer

Solution 1. OA: C
The author tries to establish the meaning of Morality through analysis of the word's origins. Option C is therefore the correct answer.

A: He doesn't

2. OA: D
The proof lies here “morality must be concerned with what is honored by the community at large.” it is obvious therefore that the role of and individual service to society.

3. OA: B
The author speaks for both sides. Evidence for this is available in lines 10 to 14.

lostin · Answer

Good to have expert views on Question 1. Author doesn't seem to be concern with Word origin so much.

NischalP · Answer

Yes I feel the dispute is being addressed rather than a trace of origin for Q1
IMO doubt

Sajjad1994 · Answer

I am in the sense that the OA of question #1 is mistaken, C could not be the answer and  B is better than C  according to the text available in the passage. This is definitely a debatable questions so i have added "debatable OA" tag with this RC. Questions like this one differentiates between Official question and a third part question.

Kritika09 · Answer

I think the answer to 1st question should be - B. As the author is balancing both the views. Can anyone please explain how C is the correct answer?

kavyaa_porwal · Answer

my attempt to explain why in que 1 c is the ans

in the first 4 lines the author did explain the meaning of the two words ego centric and sociocentric but if you read the after lines its clearly mentioned that "but nothing helps so now fortunately we have the the origin of this word morality which can help us'' .Basically the author did not got any closure from those 2 words then he goes on to explaining morality through the origin thats why option c is the ans. Hope it helps;

HNS · Answer

Sajjad1994 ,  Bunuel ,  bb  :

For question 3 how can OA be B since;

Author’s core argument
The author analyzes the origin of the word “morality” from “mores”, which referred to cultural customs meant to guide citizens for the good of the community.

Key idea:
These customs aimed at developing individual abilities so they could serve the community.

This suggests morality is primarily about community welfare.

3. Role of self-fulfilment

The author also says:
self-fulfilment is important because unfulfilled citizens cannot perform the duties morality assigns them.

So:
Self-fulfilment supports morality
But it is not the main definition of morality

So shouldn't OA be A ?

guddo · Answer

It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements regarding socio-centrics and egocentrics?

The author traces “morality” to “mores” and says morality is about what a community honors, but then adds that self-fulfilment matters because people need it to carry out the duties morality assigns. So the author treats both community obligation and self-fulfilment as parts of morality.

(A) The position of the socio-centrics is stronger than that of the egocentrics

The passage does emphasize community, but it also explicitly says self-fulfilment is important to morality, not optional. That makes “socio-centrics are stronger” too one-sided for what the author is doing.

(B) The positions of the egocentrics and socio-centrics are of equal merit

This fits best: the author uses the socio-centric idea to define what morality is aimed at (serving the community), and uses the egocentric idea to explain a necessary condition for morality to work (citizens must be fulfilled enough to perform duties).  Both positions are presented as genuinely contributing to what morality involves.

(C) There is no merit in the position of the egocentrics

Directly contradicted by the line that self-fulfilment is  important  to morality.

(D) Neither position contributes very much to an understanding of the definition of morality

The whole passage is an attempt to use both positions to clarify morality, so this cannot be right.

(E) The dispute between the egocentrics and socio-centrics is based on trivial issues

The author treats the dispute as meaningful and offers a synthesis, not a dismissal.

Answer: (B)

Many philosophers disagree over the definition of morality, but most

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

Many philosophers disagree over the definition of morality, but most

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