PrepTest 136, Section 3, Question 20
Most people acknowledge that not all governments have(453 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- ASome views that(12 more words not shown)
- BContrary to what(21 more words not shown)
- CIt does not(24 more words not shown)
- DEven if, as(21 more words not shown)
- EContrary to what(26 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We've already predicted the main point: the critics wrongly attribute two implications to philosophical anarchism. Denying a duty to obey a government doesn't make every government morally equal, and it doesn't eliminate duties to other people.
What we’re looking for
We want an answer covering both corrections. A statement about one moral duty may be true but still leave out half of the defense.
Working the answers
- A
This describes what the commentators find troubling. The author's point goes further: those supposed implications don't actually follow from the theory. Merely calling them counterintuitive leaves out the response the rest of the discussion develops.
- B
This wrongly puts the author in opposition to philosophical anarchists on whether governments can differ morally. The second paragraph explains that the theory permits exactly that distinction. Duties to other people also aren't restricted here to citizens of legitimate governments.
- CCorrect
Both criticized implications are explicitly denied. This captures the government's-moral-quality point from the second paragraph and the duties-to-other-people point from the third, matching the defense we predicted.
- D
This is a supported part of the answer to the second criticism. It leaves out the separate argument that governments can differ morally, so it is incomplete as the main point.
- E
Philosophical anarchism does conflict with the view that legal status alone creates a moral duty to obey. The author defends the theory against two alleged consequences, not by denying its defining position.
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