PrepTest 148

[lcid:3689] Prep Test 148 LSAT — Reading Comp — S2 Reading comp

Passage

 . The following passage is adapted from a journal article.  .       To understand John Rawls's theory of justice,  . one Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Legal Studies


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • A view is previewed, and the prevailing view it stood against is explained and undermined
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Preview - Rawls’s theory of justice (probably main topic)
    • Reacting against - Utilitarianism - justice is what gives most satisfaction to most people
    • Problem (Rawls + Author) - Violating 1 person’s rights can make many others happy (e.g., killing 1 person to appease a mob)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Question (Alternative?); Rawls’s answer (Process; Author - ingenious)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Question - If not utilitarianism, then what?
    • Answer (Rawls) - Even if we can’t agree on good life, fair process = fair outcome
    • Author - Ingenious

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Question (Fair procedure?); Rawls’s answer (Veil of ignorance; Author - Clever)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Question - What is a fair procedure?
    • Answer (Rawls) - Veil of ignorance - the process you’d make up if you didn’t know the outcome (Example - cutting a cake but not getting to pick pieces)
    • Author - Clever

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Rawls generalizes from last point
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Rawls - Thought experiment - Original position - self-interested, but don’t know your station in life
    • Outcome - People want to set up fair system in case they’re born poor

Paragraph 5

  • Paragraph note
    • Rawls’s view is further explored; the Author critiques it
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Rawls - People want primary goods (e.g., rights, opportunities, money), so in Original Position, people would spread them around
    • Author (negative) - Rawls’s view is redistributionist since goods aren’t evenly spread

Main Point: Reacting to the shortcomings of utilitarianism, Rawls proposed an ingenious/clever alternative theory of justice that was based on a thought experiment where people start without knowing their station in life and create a just process, though this is inherently redistributionist.

Key Lines?

Lines 3-5 - The old theory is introduced

Lines 13-16 - Rawls’s critique of it is introduced

Lines 17-22 - A first question is asked, and Rawls’s “ingenious” answer is offered

Lines 25-27 - A second question is asked, and Rawls’s “clever” answer is offered

Lines 35-39 - Rawls generalizes from the last point and introduced a thought experiment

Lines 29-51 - Rawls overall view is brought together to present his alternative theory of justice

Lines 51-53 - The Author critiques Rawls’s theory

Meta-Structure?

Old Theory/New Theory - Paragraph 1 notes that Rawls’s theory of justice was a reaction against a dominant theory - utilitarianism (Lines 1-4). First, Rawls highlights a flaw with it, then he proposes an alternative approach. In general, the Author’s opinion of the new theory serves as the main point of the passage. Here, that opinion is mixed - she finds it “ingenious” (Line 19) and “clever” (Line 26), but it ends up being inherently “unfortunate[]” (Line 51) in a certain way.

Question/Answer - The Author asks two questions to explore Rawls’s theory (Paragraphs 2 and 3). These questions and their answers are limited to the paragraphs in which they’re asked, though the answers build to the main point.

Last Thoughts?

The Author here has an opinion that isn’t 100% clear towards Rawls’s theory of justice. On the one hand, the thinking behind it is referred to as “ingenious” (Line 19) and “clever” (Line 26). However, she critiques his view at the end by calling it “[u]nfortunately, an inherently redistributionist idea” (Lines 51-52; it’s the “Unfortunately” that lets us know she thinks this is a critique). So while she does appreciate Rawls’s theory, she has at least one issue with it. Let’s keep that in mind for any attitude question.

Question prompt

With which one of Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Social Science

Strategy Overview

Identify points of overlap between the Author and Rawls, then find an answer reflecting one of those views

Answer Anticipation

Before we even dig into the specifics here, let’s remind ourselves of the Author’s overall viewpoint towards Rawls - she thinks that he has some “ingenious” (Line 19) and “clever” (Line 26) arguments, but his view is “[u]nfortunately” inherently redistributionist (Lines 51-52).Now, we would normally at this point hop into the specific areas where the Author’s opinion and Rawls’s opinion both show up. But each paragraph has opinions from each of them! That’s going to require too much work and too much memorization ahead of heading to the answer choices, so for this one, we need to head to the answers and then focus on those that line up with what we know about both Rawls’s and the Author’s viewpoint.To reiterate those views, we said of the Author’s main point:Reacting to the shortcomings of utilitarianism, Rawls proposed an ingenious/clever alternative theory of justice that was based on a thought experiment where people start without knowing their station in life and create a just process, though this is inherently redistributionist.And Rawls’s viewpoint was his theory - that Utilitarianism has shortcomings, and thus a new theory of justice that starts from the veil of ignorance and original positions is preferable.

Answer choices

  1. A
    There are situations in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem

    (A) (Lines 13-16) This answer plays into the critique of Utilitarianism. Rawls “accordingly complains” that that theory leads to the inevitable conclusion that the violation of the rights of a few is fine if it benefits more people. As such, Rawls believes that there are situations where it’s permissible for the rights of an individual to outweigh the rights of many (e.g., the innocent person who doesn’t want to be executed by a mob). And in saying that Rawls “accordingly” complains about this outcome after pivoting away from the argument in favor of Utilitarianism (Lines 6-9), while also calling the outcome incredible, the Author clearly feels that this is a problem for Utilitarianism. In short? This answer says that there are some situations where Utilitarianism doesn’t work out right, and we know both the Author and Rawls agree with that.

  2. B
    Unless individuals set aside Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) (Lines 36-39; Lines 49-51) Rawls says that the “original position” involves people who are self-interested but don’t know their station in life, and people in this position would agree that everyone should get a minimum amount of primary goods. As such, Rawls believes that self-interested people can make fair judgments here, as long as they’re behind the veil of ignorance.

  3. C
    If an individual lacks Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) (Lines 51-52) The Author calls Rawls’s theory “[u]nfortunately” inherently redistributive, so she wouldn’t necessarily agree that society must provide these goods.

  4. D
    Most people agree about Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) (Lines 44-49) The passage lists some primary goods, not all (“include”), and they’re not ranked, so this answer lacks support in the passage.

  5. E
    It is fair to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) (Lines 13-16) This is the Utilitarian view that both Rawls and the Author have issues with, so it’s not a point of agreement between them. In many ways, it’s the negation of (A) - the correct answer!

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