PTB.S1.Q6 - The Taft-Harley act

LSAT Studier

Could anyone explain how does one reach answer C in regards to the final sentence, "none except the most virtuous deserves praise" ? Would really appreciate if one had the answers to this.

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AmericanInJapan

Hello!

There is a reason I wasn't a philosophy major. Reading this makes my head hurt. But we can do this.

What do we know in this passage? Don't diagram, just look at the facts.

What should we do generally according to the author's first sentence? We should do things that make people better (more virtuous) and not make people worse (less virtuous). Let's teach people to love and not to steal.

But this weird thing happens when we praise people, the good people become worse and the bad people become better. Maybe the good people get an ego whereas the bad people want to be praised instead of punished all the time? Idk, but apparently complimenting good people makes them annoying but makes bad people cool.

But then that darn final sentence. Let's cut the weird philosophy thing and just say ONLY the virtuous people/good people deserve to be praised.

Okay so wait a second here. You're telling me that virtuous/good people are the only ones who deserve to be praised, but then at the same time you're telling me that if I praise them, they become worse people? Didn't you start this whole dang argument telling me we should only do things that make people better? How the heck do those two things make sense together?

Exactly. They don't.

It would actually be wrong of us to praise the people who deserve to be praised (the virtuous ones) because they would become worse people. We should be praising the people who don't deserve it (bad people/less virtuous) because they will become better people.

Hence, C is the correct answer. We should withhold praise from good people, and compliment bad people.

Thanks LSAT, I'm going to go take some aspirin.