PT128.S4.P4.Q26 > Analytics

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Passage A discusses the views of the economist and political thinker Thomas Sowell. ███████ █ ██ ███████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ ███████

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Define "cosmic justice" · Idealized form of justice, requires perfect knowledge

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Author's persepective · Legal system cannot and should not try to dispense cosmic justice

Because we don't have perfect knowledge.

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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.

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Author's conclusion · Should base justice on consequences, not causes

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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.

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Illustrate · How traditional justice is based on process

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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, ███ ███ ███ ██████████ ██ ███████ ██ ██████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ███████████

Question Type

Implied

Principle or generalization

The correct answer will be a principle that Passage A relies on, but that Passage B does not rely on. If you’re using the Split Approach, start by eliminating any answers that Passage A doesn’t rely on. Then, after Passage B, eliminate any remaining answers that Passage B does rely on.

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.

14%

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.

Although we should ███ ██ ███████ ████████ ██ ██████ █████████ ████ ██ ██████ ██████ ███

Passage A doesn’t use this principle, because it doesn’t argue that we should aim at perfect justice.

40%

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.

12%

If a goal ██ █████ ██ ██ ███████████ ████ ██ ██████ ███ ██ ██████████

This underlies Passage A’s argument that because we cannot understand how all the various causal inputs affect an action, we shouldn’t try to take these inputs into account.

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.

31%

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PrepTest 128 - Section 4 - Passage 4 - Question 26

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PrepTest 128 - Section 4 - Passage 4 - Question 26

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