PrepTest 110, Section 2, Question 7
A certain moral system holds that performing good(32 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(16 more words not shown)
- APeople who perform(16 more words not shown)
- BMost people face(15 more words not shown)
- CPeople virtually always(13 more words not shown)
- DSince it is(24 more words not shown)
- EIt is far(20 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
How can a good habit earn praise if praise requires resisting temptation?
The first rule doesn't say every good action deserves praise. It requires something more: overcoming a powerful temptation to do otherwise. If doing the good thing is effortless because you already want to do it, that rule doesn't yet give us a reason for praise.
What we’re looking for
Then the moral system says some good actions performed from habit are praiseworthy. To reconcile the two claims, I'd look for a connection between those habits and overcoming temptation. We don't need to throw out either claim. We need a way a habitual good action could involve the resistance that the first rule requires.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
The habit may be the result of years of resisting temptation. What looks effortless now could reflect a history of choosing the good action when doing so was difficult.
That gives the moral system a reason to praise at least some habitual actions: they express a habit built through the very resistance the system values. The answer connects the habit to overcoming temptation over time. It doesn't need to say the person faces an equally powerful temptation on every later occasion.
- B
How often people face temptation doesn't explain why a good action done from habit can deserve praise. We would still need to connect those habitual actions with overcoming temptation. B gives a frequency claim without that connection.
- C
Believing your action is good doesn't establish that you resisted temptation to perform it. Nor does it explain how habit satisfies the moral system's requirement. Whether other people agree with your judgment is a separate issue.
- D
Difficulty measuring someone's temptation could make it hard to decide when to praise that person. But our puzzle concerns how the system's two rules fit together, not whether an observer can always tell which rule applies. D leaves the apparent conflict unresolved.
- E
Habitual good actions could be more common than actions performed against strong temptation. That comparison doesn't tell us why some habitual actions meet the condition for praise. Counting the two categories doesn't supply the connection between them, and we shouldn't simply assume the categories never overlap.
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