LSAT 125 – Section 2 – Question 17

LSAT 125 - Section 2 - Question 17

June 2008

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT125 S2 Q17
+LR
Argument part +AP
Rule-Application +RuleApp
A
2%
153
B
25%
160
C
4%
159
D
65%
164
E
4%
154
143
155
167
 +Harder 145.417 +SubsectionEasier

Ethicist: The penalties for drunk driving are far more severe when the drunk driver accidentally injures people than when no one is injured. Moral responsibility for an action depends solely on the intentions underlying the action and not on the action’s results. Therefore, legal responsibility, depending as it does in at least some cases on factors other than the agent’s intentions, is different than moral responsibility.

Summarize Argument
Legal responsibility is different than moral responsibility. Why? Moral responsibility depends only on intentions, not outcomes. However, legal responsibility depends on factors other than intentions in some cases. For example, legal drunk driving penalties are stronger when there are worse outcomes.

Identify Argument Part
This is a premise. It is an example that shows that legal responsibility can be outcome dependent, which shows legal responsibility can depend on factors other than intentions, which proves legal responsibility is different from moral responsibility.

A
It is a premise offered in support of the claim that legal responsibility for an action is based solely upon features of the action that are generally unintended by the agent.
This answer choice is too strong. It shows that legal responsibility can be based on unintended features, but not “solely.”
B
It is offered as an illustration of the claim that the criteria of legal responsibility for an action include but are not the same as those for moral responsibility.
This illustrates an aspect of legal responsibility that is different from moral responsibility.
C
It is offered as an illustration of the claim that people may be held morally responsible for an action for which they are not legally responsible.
This claim only shows legal responsibility for drunk driving. We don’t know about moral responsibility.
D
It is a premise offered in support of the claim that legal responsibility depends in at least some cases on factors other than the agent’s intentions.
This shows that outcomes play a role in some legal cases, which is a factor other than the agent’s responsibility.
E
It is a premise offered in support of the claim that moral responsibility depends solely on the intentions underlying the action and not on the action’s result.
That particular claim receives no support. This part of the stimulus supports a claim about legal responsibility.

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LSAT PrepTest 125 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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