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
26.
The discussion in passage A, ███ ███ ███ ██████████ ██ ███████ ██ ██████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ███████████
a
One should refrain ████ ██████ ████ ███ █████ ████████ ████████████
Passage A doesn’t use this principle, because it doesn’t argue that we should “refrain from action” — meaning, don’t do anything. Passage A argues that we shouldn’t take into account certain factors, but this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take any action.
b
Whether a punishment ██ ████ ███████ ████ ████ ███████ ██ ██████ ██████
Passage A doesn’t discuss deterrence. Since we can eliminate based on Passage A, we don’t need to consider Passage B.
c
Although we should ███ ██ ███████ ████████ ██ ██████ █████████ ████ ██ ██████ ██████ ███
Passage A doesn’t use this principle, because it doesn’t argue that we should aim at perfect justice.
d
One should not ████ ████████ ██ ██ ██████ ██████ ███ █████ ███ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ██████████ ███
Passage A doesn’t use this principle, because it never argues that we shouldn’t pass judgment on an action. It argues that, in passing judgment, we shouldn’t take into account certain factors. But this is different from arguing that we shouldn’t pass judgment.
e
If a goal ██ █████ ██ ██ ███████████ ████ ██ ██████ ███ ██ ██████████
This underlies Passage A’s
Passage B doesn’t use this principle, because it never argues that something shouldn’t be attempted due to its impossibility. Passage B does criticize cosmic justice, but not on the basis of its impossibility to attain.