PrepTest 148, Section 2, Question 2
The following passage is adapted from a journal(460 more words not shown)
The purpose of the question(9 more words not shown)
- Apoint out an(4 more words not shown)
- Bcharacterize utilitarianism as(2 more words not shown)
- Cestablish that utilitarianism(3 more words not shown)
- Dsuggest the intuitive(3 more words not shown)
- Einquire into ways(3 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The question asks, in effect, what could be better than creating as much satisfaction as possible for as many people as possible? At that moment, utilitarianism sounds attractive. Only afterward does the innocent-person example reveal the troubling consequence.
What we’re looking for
We need the role of this particular question, not the role of the criticism that follows it.
Working the answers
- A
The question introduces the theory's appeal. The disturbing feature appears later, when satisfying a mob could justify executing an innocent person. Don't move that later criticism into this earlier sentence.
- B
An objectionable consequence is not an internal contradiction. The execution can follow the stated goal of maximizing satisfaction while still striking us as morally unacceptable. This question doesn't show two incompatible claims within utilitarianism.
- C
Making the theory sound initially plausible does not establish that it must be true. The discussion immediately goes on to challenge what the theory would permit.
- DCorrect
“At first sight” frames the rhetorical question as an expression of intuitive appeal. Wanting people to be satisfied sounds sensible before we examine whose interests might be sacrificed to achieve that total.
- E
The question does not ask what principle we could add to repair utilitarianism. It presents the attraction of the existing idea, before the problem with it is explained.
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