Self-study
Jack's aunt gave him her will, asking him to make it public when she died; he promised to do so. █████ ███ ██████ ████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ██ ██████████ ████ ███ ███ █████ ██ ██ ███ ██████ ███████ ████ ████ ████ ██ ██ ████ ███ ████ ███████ ██████ █████ ████████ ███ ██████ ██████████ ███████ ██████ ███ ██████ █████ ████ ████ ████ ████ ██ ██ ███ ███ ████ ███ ████ ███████ ███ █████ █████ ██ ██ ███ ███ ███████ ███ █████ ███ ██ ██ ███████ ███████ ███ ███████ ███████ ██ ████ █████ ███████████ ██ ███████ ███ ██ ████ ███ ████ ███████
Summary
Jack decided not to make his aunt’s will public. This decision was based on the following:
If the will was made public, his aunt’s money would go to someone who would squander the money, benefiting nobody.
If the will was not made public, the money would go to Jack’s mother, which would benefit her and others, and harm no one.
Missing Connection
We want to justify Jack’s decision not to make the will public. The premises concern the consequences of making the will public vs. not making the will public. We want to connect these consequences to what one should do in a way that proves not making the will public was the right course of action. For example:
When choosing between two options, choose one that benefits at least one person over one that doesn’t benefit anyone.
25.
Which one of the following ███████████ ██ ██████ █████ ███████ ████ ██ ███ ██ ██ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██████████
a
Duties to family ███████ ████ ████████ ████ ██████ ██ ██████ ███ ███ ███ ██████ ████████
We don’t know whether Jack has a duty to allow his mother to get the money. In addition, Jack’s aunt is a family member. So potentially there might be a duty to follow the wishes of her will. (A) doesn’t prove that Jack’s decision was appropriate.
b
Violating a promise ██ █████████████ ████████ █████ ██ █████ ██████ █████ ██ ███████
Jack violated the promise to his aunt. We want to establish that his decision was appropriate. But (B) tells me when violating a promise is impermissible. It doesn’t prove when violating a promise should be done.
c
One must choose ██ ███████████ ████ ████████ ████ ███ █████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ███████████ ████ █████ ████ ███ ████████ ██ ████
We don’t know whether the alternative of making the will public “harms some.” We know that it benefits no one, but we don’t know that it harms someone. So (C) doesn’t provide a principle that applies to Jack’s decision.
d
When faced with ████████████ ██ ██ ██████████ ██ ██████ █████████ ███ ████ ███████ ███ ████████ ██████ ██ ███████
Making the will public benefited no one. But withholding the will from the public benefited at least Jack’s mother. So withholding the will from the public benefited the greatest number of people. According to (D), then, Jack was obligated to withhold the will from the public.
e
A promise becomes ██████████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ ████ ███ ███████ ███ ████ ██ ██ ██████ ███████
(E) establishes that Jack was not bound by his promise to his aunt. But that doesn’t establish that Jack’s decision was appropriate. Just because he was morally allowed to go against his promise to his aunt does not imply that it was something he should have done.