Logical Reasoning

PT124 · S1 · Q16 Jurist: A nation's laws

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Jurist: A nation's laws must be viewed as expressions of a moral code that transcends those laws and serves as a measure of their adequacy.

Facts

Laws are expressions of an underlying moral code.

The moral codes transcends those laws and determines whether those laws are adequate.

conditionals (otherwise, any)

If the moral code weren't a transcendent judge of the laws' adequacy, then we'd have no way to prefer one set of laws to another.

If we say it's morally forbidden to violate a law, then we have to leave room for exceptions.

Evaluate

Our #1 focus on Must Be True questions is conditional logic. It's possible to construe the last two sentences as conditionals, but they don't quite present that way.

Do they chain together? No, there no common terms (there are shared words, but none of the triggers / outcomes would match each other or be the logical opposite of each other).

Does the first sentence provide a fact that triggers either rule? No.

The stimulus is written in argument style, which is weird for Must Be True / Most Supported. When that happens, we can often think about hidden Assumptions as potential inferences.

Why was the author saying we need to leave room for exceptions? Why would we say, ?

It seems to be hinting at the idea that we have this transcendent moral code that judges whether a law is adequate. If we morally judged a law inadequate (such as laws enforcing segregation or inhumane treatment of minorities), then we shouldn't be morally obliged to follow that sort of law.

Goal

Look for the most provable claim. It will probably be getting at this tension between a moral obligation to follow laws, broadly, and a specific exception where morality and law are at odds with each other (and morality gets the winning vote).

16.

Which one of the following can be properly inferred from the jurist's statements?

  1. Those who formulate statutes are

    Contradiction

    The statements support the view that those who formulate statutes should be primarily concerned with morality, since statutes should reflect a moral code.

    1% picked this

  2. Sometimes criteria other than the

    Contradiction

    Morality is the basis for preferring one set of laws over another. The moral code serves as a measure of the adequacy of a nation's laws.

    14% picked this

  3. Unless it is legally forbidden

    Contradiction Too Strong (indistinguishable)

    At no point are we making it seem like laws and morality are virtually indistinguishable. This is saying, "If there isn't any law against violating a moral rule, then complying with the law and behaving morally are identical." There could definitely be things (like grabbing your neighbor's mail when they're away on vacation) that are moral behavior but have nothing to do with complying with the law.

    7% picked this

  4. There is no statute that

    Contradiction

    This suggests that moral codes and statues always perfectly align, but the statements suggest that they don’t always perfectly align.

    3% picked this

  5. Correct

    A nation's laws can sometimes

    Why this is right

    This follows from the fact that moral prohibitions against violating statutes need to leave room for exceptions. Why? Because statutes and moral codes do not always perfectly align.

    Skill tested: Must be True · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    75% picked this

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