Self-study
Passage A discusses the views of the economist and political thinker Thomas Sowell. ███████ █ ██ ███████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ ███████
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P1
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Define "cosmic justice" ·
Idealized form of justice, requires perfect knowledge
Author's persepective ·
Legal system cannot and should not try to dispense cosmic justice
Because we don't have perfect knowledge.
P2
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Explain ·
Why we cannot know what someone deserves
We don't have the information or intelligence needed to weigh every relevant factor.
Author's conclusion ·
Should base justice on consequences, not causes
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P3
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Draw distinction ·
Between cosmic justice and traditional justice
Traditional justice is based on process. Inference: if cosmic justice is fundamentally different from traditional justice, then cosmic justice is not based on process.
Illustrate ·
How traditional justice is based on process
P4
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Illustrate ·
How cosmic justice accounts for other factors besides process
Note author's perspective: the goals of cosmic justice are "foolish."
Author's perspective ·
Cosmic justice reduces deterrence
Passage Style
20.
Which one of the following █████ ██ ██████ █████ ██ ████ ███████████ ███ ███████ █ ███ ███████ ██ █████████████
a
"Cosmic Justice Meets █████ ████████████
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This best captures the overall point of each passage. Passage A argues that we shouldn’t try to achieve cosmic justice, because we can’t figure out all the relevant variables that go into it. Passage B focuses on the difference between cosmic justice and the traditional conception of justice, which is based on fairness.
b
"Sowell's Theory of ████████
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Passage A’s title doesn’t fit, because it doesn’t capture the author’s advocacy against trying to achieve cosmic justice. In addition, Passage B’s title also doesn’t fit, because Passage B isn’t focused on identifying the key to deterrence. It does discuss how cosmic justice would influence deterrence, but that’s not the overall point.
c
"Just Deserts"
"Fair ███ ██████ ██████████████
Passage A’s title doesn’t fit, because it doesn’t capture the author’s advocacy against trying to achieve cosmic justice. In addition, Passage B’s title also doesn’t fit, because Passage B isn’t focused on identifying or comparing disadvantages that are fair or unfair.
d
"A Critique of ███████
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Passage A’s title doesn’t fit, because it’s not clear the author critiques Sowell. She critiques a particular concept that Sowell uses, but that doesn’t imply Sowell advocates that the legal system should use that concept.
e
"The Impossibility of █████████ ██████ ████████
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Passage B’s title doesn’t fit, because Passage B doesn’t place fair trials and justice in opposition to each other. The passage focuses on the difference between cosmic justice and traditional conceptions of justice.