PrepTest 136, Section 4, Question 7
Philosopher: Both the consequences and the motives of(36 more words not shown)
The philosopher's argument requires the(2 more words not shown)
- Aone cannot be(13 more words not shown)
- Bdesiring to conform(6 more words not shown)
- Cnobody who acts(11 more words not shown)
- Dit is impossible(9 more words not shown)
- Eit is impossible(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why does wanting to follow a principle require free will?
The opening claim is understandable: what an action does and why someone does it can affect its moral worth. Punching someone to steal their money is different from punching an attacker to protect a child. Both the harm caused and the motive matter.
But the argument then shifts to what it takes to be a moral agent. Its stated requirement is wanting to conform to a principle. Its conclusion is that free will is required. Those are different ideas. We have not yet been told why the desire depends on free will.
What we’re looking for
The assumption needs to connect them: wanting to follow a principle requires free will. Then we can follow the full reasoning. A moral agent must have that desire, and having that desire requires free will, so a moral agent must have free will. Keep the desire in the chain; actually following a principle is not the same thing as wanting to follow one.
Working the answers
- A
This adds concern for consequences as another requirement for being a moral agent. That does not explain why the requirement the philosopher actually cites—desiring to conform to a principle—leads to free will. The opening discussion of consequences does not supply that missing connection.
- BCorrect
This is the bridge. If desiring to conform to a principle requires free will, then anyone who must have that desire must also have free will. Without this connection, the philosopher has not shown why the stated requirement for moral agency establishes the conclusion.
- C
This connects taking consequences into account with being free. But the philosopher's reason concerns a desire to follow a principle, not attention to consequences. Even if we read 'free' as referring to free will, C leaves the argument's actual gap open.
- D
This says anyone with desires must be a moral agent. The passage instead gives a particular desire that moral agents must have. We do not need to turn every person with any desire into a moral agent, and doing so would still supply no connection to free will.
- E
This concerns performing morally worthy actions and actually conforming to a principle at some point. The conclusion concerns the free will required to be a moral agent. E does not connect free will to the desire on which the philosopher bases that conclusion.
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