LSAT 110 – Section 2 – Question 07

LSAT 110 - Section 2 - Question 07

June 2001

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT110 S2 Q07
+LR
Resolve reconcile or explain +RRE
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
Quantifier +Quant
A
92%
167
B
2%
161
C
0%
150
D
1%
153
E
5%
159
131
141
151
 +Easier 145.606 +SubsectionMedium

A certain moral system holds that performing good actions is praiseworthy only when one overcomes a powerful temptation in order to perform them. Yet this same moral system also holds that performing good actions out of habit is sometimes praiseworthy.

"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why does this moral system recognize some habitual actions as praiseworthy if actions can only be praiseworthy when they result from overcoming strong temptation?

Objective
A hypothesis reconciling this conflict must provide evidence that some habitual actions can be performed only after overcoming a powerful temptation.

A
People who perform good actions out of habit have often acquired this habit after years of having resisted temptation.
This explains why habitual actions can be praiseworthy. Though the actions may not require overcoming temptation in the moment, they result from overcoming temptation over an extended period.
B
Most people face strong moral temptation from time to time but few people have to endure it regularly.
This strengthens the conflict. If few people endure temptation regularly, then their habitual actions rarely or never involve overcoming temptation, and thus should not be praiseworthy.
C
People virtually always perform actions they think are good, regardless of what other people may think.
This does not explain how habitual actions can involve overcoming temptation. It addresses the requirement that praiseworthy actions be good, but does not address the primary conflict—that habitual actions can sometimes be praiseworthy.
D
Since it is difficult to tell what is going on in another person’s mind, it is often hard to know exactly how strongly a person is tempted.
This explains why habitual actions may sometimes be praised, but not why they are praiseworthy. If a person is incorrectly believed to have overcome temptation, the moral system described would not consider their actions praiseworthy based on that misconception.
E
It is far more common for people to perform good actions out of habit than for them to do so against strong temptation.
This explains the prevalence of certain actions without addressing the moral issue at hand. If people rarely perform good actions against strong temptation, then there is rarely reason to praise those actions.

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LSAT PrepTest 110 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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