PrepTest 131, Section 1, Question 16
Chiu: The belief that a person is always(38 more words not shown)
Chiu's conclusion follows logically if(7 more words not shown)
- AIndividuals do not(10 more words not shown)
- BIf a person(12 more words not shown)
- CAlthough a person(16 more words not shown)
- DIf an emotion(14 more words not shown)
- EThe emotions for(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Chiu is not saying that people are never blameworthy for these emotions. The target is “always”: the belief that feeling unjustifiable anger, jealousy, or resentment invariably makes someone morally blameworthy.
The evidence gives us a limit on responsibility. People are responsible only for what they control, and sometimes they cannot control whether they feel these emotions. In those cases, the responsibility requirement is not met. But the conclusion uses a different term: moral blameworthiness. Does being blameworthy require being responsible? That is the connection we need.
What we’re looking for
One exception will be enough to defeat “always.” If someone says they go to the store every Tuesday, showing one Tuesday when they did not go disproves the claim; we do not need to show that they never go. Here, we need to establish that the uncontrolled cases are exceptions to moral blame. A rule requiring responsibility for blameworthiness would do that.
Working the answers
- A
This concerns control over actions while feeling emotions. Chiu's conclusion concerns blame for feeling the emotions themselves. More importantly, A never connects a lack of control or responsibility to a lack of moral blameworthiness.
- BCorrect
This makes responsibility a requirement for moral blameworthiness. Follow the chain: when an emotion is outside someone's control, Chiu's premise says the person is not responsible for it. B then rules out moral blameworthiness, because the required responsibility is absent. Since some such feelings are outside the person's control, the person is not always blameworthy for them. That establishes Chiu's conclusion.
- C
An emotion could be appropriate on some occasions without resolving whether someone is blameworthy for feeling it on other occasions. Chiu's argument turns on control and responsibility. Appropriateness does not supply the missing connection to moral blameworthiness.
- D
This applies when an emotion is under the person's control and concerns holding other people responsible. We need to address emotions outside the person's control and whether that person is morally blameworthy. D handles a different situation and a different assignment of responsibility.
- E
What people are commonly blamed for does not establish what they deserve blame for. Even if most blame concerns controlled emotions, we still need a rule showing that the uncontrolled cases are not morally blameworthy. A statement about common practice does not provide it.
More Sufficient Assumption questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Sufficient Assumption questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.