PrepTest 136, Section 3, Question 24
Most people acknowledge that not all governments have(453 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(20 more words not shown)
- AA member of(21 more words not shown)
- BA corporate executive(21 more words not shown)
- CA person who(20 more words not shown)
- DA person neglects(31 more words not shown)
- EA driver determines(25 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The first two sentences say that people have duties not to harm one another even if laws themselves carry no moral force. Imagine people on an island with no legal penalty for theft: the lack of a penalty wouldn't erase the wrong done to the person whose property is taken.
What we’re looking for
We want someone responding to harm as a moral reason in its own right. The scenario needn't have no government at all. What matters is why the person changes their behavior.
Working the answers
- A
Fear of legal penalties motivates this person's action. That doesn't illustrate treating a duty to other people as a reason independent of legal pressure.
- BCorrect
The executive stops dumping chemicals when she learns that they contaminate the water supply. The dumping was already illegal; learning of its harmful effects prompts the change. That fits the idea that others' health gives us a moral reason to refrain, apart from the law's command.
- C
The coworker's popularity is the reason for tolerating theft. This doesn't show respect for the duty not to harm another's goods.
- D
Wanting money for a business is a personal benefit, not the nonlegal moral duty to others we need. Defying a law by itself doesn't illustrate philosophical anarchism's account of moral responsibility.
- E
The driver assumes the road is empty despite poor visibility. That doesn't clearly establish that others won't be endangered, much less show a response to an identified duty to protect them. B gives the direct connection between recognizing harm and stopping the harmful conduct.
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