Self-study
Columnist: It is sometimes claimed that the only factors relevant to determining moral guilt or innocence are the intentions of the person performing an action. ████████ ████████ █████████████ █████ ████ █ ███████ ████ ██ ███ █████ ████████ ██ ██ ███████ ███ ████████ █ ████ ██ █ ██████████ ███ ██████████████ ███ ██ ██████████ ██ ███ ████ ████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ███ ████ █████ ██████████ ██ ████████ ██ ██████████ ███ ████████ ███ ████████ ███████ ██████ ██ ███ ██████████ ███████ ██ ██ ████████ ████████ ██ ████ ███████████ ████ ███ █████ ███ █████ ████ ██████ █████ █████ ███ ████ ██ ██ ██████ ██ ███████ █████ ███████████
Summary
The columnist argues that intentions are not the sole factor in determining moral guilt. For example, a cook who accidentally adds an ingredient would normally be considered forgetful. However, if someone were allergic to the ingredient and died, the cook would be judged guilty of serious negligence.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
Factors beyond one’s intentions (immediate control) can influence how one is judged for an action.
25.
Which one of the following ████████████ ██ ████ ███████████ ██ ███ ███████████ ███████████
a
It is sometimes ████ ██ █████ ███ ████████ ██ ███████ ███████ ████ ███████ ███████████ ███ ██ ███ █████████████ █████ █████ █████ ███████ ████ ██████████
This is anti-supported. The columnist sees the importance of looking at other factors when determining one’s morality.
b
We sometimes judge ████████ ███ ████████ ██ █████ ████████ ████████
This is too strong to support. The stimulus does not mention what is fair/unfair, only that people are judged for things outside of their intentions
c
We should judge ███ █████████ ██████ ██ ██ ███████ ███████ ████████████ ██████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ █████ ████████
This is anti-supported. The stimulus suggests that people are judged differently in different situations.
d
People are sometimes ████ ███████ ███████████ ██ █ ██████ ██ █████████████ ████ ██ █████ ████ ███████ █████ ███████████ ████████
The example with the cook mirrors this answer choice. Whether one is allergic to an ingredient (outside of the cook’s control) is a major factor in how they are morally judged.
e
The intentions of ███ ██████ ██████████ ██ ██████ ███ ██████ █ ████████ ██████ ██ ██████ █████ █████████ █████ ████ ███████
This is too strong to support. The columnist suggests that there are factors other than one’s motives, not that their intentions are “rarely a decisive factor.”