Self-study
Etiquette firmly opposes both obscene and malicious talk, but this does not imply that speech needs to be restricted by law. █████████ ████ ███ ███████████ ████ ██████ ███ ██████████ ██ █████████ ██████ ███████ ██ ████████ ████ █████ ███ ██████████ ██ █████ ███ ██████████ ██ ███████████ ██████████ ███████████ ██ █████████████ █████ ██ █████████████ ███ █████ █████ ████████████ ███ ██████████ ███ ██████████ ██ ████ █████ ██ ██ ██ ████ ██ █ █████ ███████
Summary
Although the rules of etiquette oppose obscene and malicious speech, they don’t tell us what we can and can’t talk about. Instead, they encourage people to consider when to bring up sensitive topics and to be respectful when discussing these topics.
Find or Complete the Application
We need to find the correct application of the above principles. The important takeaway from the stimulus is that the rules of etiquette govern how we talk about sensitive topics instead of the topics themselves, so the right answer will give us a situation that matches this idea.
21.
Which one of the following █████████ ████ ███████ ███████████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██ █████████ ██████ ██████
a
Neighbors should not ██ █████ ██ ██████████ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ████ ████ ██ ███ ███████
Speaking to someone in an unfriendly manner is not nearly as bad as being obscene or malicious, so etiquette doesn’t restrict this type of speech.
b
When prosecutors elicit █████████ ████ █ ███████████ ███████ ████ ██████ ██ ██ ███████ █████████ ████████████
We have no clue if the topic is sensitive, so we don’t know if we should restrict the prosecutor’s questioning. (B) also does not indicate that intensive questioning is obscene or malicious, so we can’t restrict it for that reason either.
c
There should be ████████████ ██ ██████ ████ ██ █ █████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████████ █████ ███ ██████ █████████ ███ ████████
The stimulus says that etiquette doesn’t encourage any legal restrictions on speech, which is at odds with (C). The information about the opinions of the majority of the population is also irrelevant and has no connection to etiquette.
d
The journalists at █ ████ ██████████ ██████ ███ ███ █ ██████████ ███████████ ████████████ █████████ █████ █ █████████████ ██████ ██████
Etiquette does not encourage us to restrict any topics of speech, just to be respectful during their discussion and to consider the context in which they are brought up. A news conference is a perfectly acceptable place to ask about public policy, so there’s no reason to prevent the journalists from discussing this topic.
e
The moderator of █ █████ ██████████ ██ █ ████████ █████ █████ ██████ ███ █████ ████████████ ██ ██████ ██ █████████████
A controversial issue is brought up in the appropriate context—a panel over the issue—so it’s okay to discuss. The participants should consider how they are discussing the topic, however, and avoid being malicious or uncivil to the other participants by calling them names. This fits with the principles in the stimulus.