Reading ComprehensionDifficulty: Medium

PT141 S1 P4 Q24 Explanation

Rectification of Past Property Injustice

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Reading Comprehension question.

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Passage

Passage

There are two principles that are fundamental to a theory of justice regarding property. The principle of justice in acquisition specifies the conditions under which someone can legitimately come to own something that was previously not owned by anyone. The principle of justice in of property from one person to another is justified.

Given such principles, if the world were wholly just, the following definition would exhaustively cover the regarding property:

1. A person who acquires property in accordance with the principle of justice in acquisition that property.

2. A person who acquires property in accordance with the principle of justice in transfer, from someone else who is entitled entitled to the property.

3. No one is entitled to any property except by (repeated) applications and 2.

However, not all actual situations are generated in accordance with the principles of justice in acquisition and justice in transfer. Some people steal from others or defraud them, for example. The existence of past injustice raises the issue of the rectification of injustice. If past injustice has shaped present ownership in various should have resulted. Actual ownership of property must then be brought into conformity with this description.

Passage

In 1790, the United States Congress passed the Indian Nonintercourse Act, which requires that all transfers of lands from Native Americans to others be approved by the federal government. The law has not been changed in any relevant respect, and it remains in effect today. Its purpose is clear. It was meant tribes for recovery of lands held by them when the Nonintercourse Act took effect.

One natural (one might almost say obvious) way of reasoning about Native American claims to land in North America is this: Native Americans were the first human occupants of this land. Before the European invasion of North America, the land belonged to them. In the course of that invasion and its aftermath, easily be righted by returning the land to them—or by returning it wherever that is feasible.

What this question is testing

Organization

Your task

Pin down exactly what the question asks about the passage — a detail, the author's view, the structure, or the main point — before looking at the choices.

Common trap

Answers that restate a true detail from the passage but don't answer the specific question being asked.

Winning move

Anticipate the answer in your own words from the passage, then find the choice that matches that prediction.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
24.

Which one of the following is true of the relationship between passage A and the second paragraph

Answer choices

  1. Not Theoretical7% picked this

    The second paragraph of passage B attempts to develop a broader version of the theory

    The second paragraph of B isn't lost in theoretical abstractions. It's trying to practically apply a principle like the principle of rectification to a specific, concrete situation involve Native Americans. So we can't say that B is "developing a broader version of a theory". No theory is cited in B.

  2. Wrong Relationship: bolster argument11% picked this

    The second paragraph of passage B purports to state facts that bolster the argument made

    The relationship is more like "Passage B is applying a weaker version of a principle discussed in Passage A to specific facts." The "argument" of A, if we can call there one is: "If the world were wholly just, you'd only need these three rules to cover property justice. But it isn't, so you need this fourth rule about rectifying injustice." The second paragraph is stating facts that would bolster the argument that Native Americans should get (most of) their back, but it doesn't seem to be bolstering an argument about what abstract principles are / aren't needed to have a complete theory of justice regarding property.

  3. Wrong Relationship: parallel arguments9% picked this

    The argument in the second paragraph of passage B is structurally parallel to the argument made in passage A, but the subject

    The argument in the second paragraph of B is, "Native Americans had rightful claim to this land. It was illegally taken from them. Therefore, it should be given back to them wherever feasibly possible." The "argument" of A was, "If the world were wholly just, you'd only need these three rules to cover property justice. But it isn't. Therefore, you need this fourth rule about rectifying injustice." Those don't seem structurally parallel at all. This answer is making it seem like A and B both make specific arguments with the same abstract argument pattern. But A was talking about abstract principles, and B seems to be using the fourth abstract principles to make a specific argument.

  4. Correct69% picked this

    Passage A presents a theory that tends to support the argument presented in the second

    Why this is right

    Passage A presents a theory that includes the principle of rectification, for dealing with situations in which property was illicitly attained. It seems to support the argument that Passage B makes in its second paragraph. "If past injustice has shaped present ownership, then we should figure out how property ownership should have looked (without the injustice) and then bring actual ownership of property into conformity with that description". That tends to support B's weaker version of, "Past injustice has shaped the present ownership of most North American lands by Euroamericans who illicitly stole that property. We should give the lands back to the Native Americans wherever possible." (that would bring actual ownership more into conformity with what property ownership would have resulted had the unjust stealing of land not occurred.

    Skill tested: Organization · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

  5. Opposite5% picked this

    The second paragraph of passage B attempts to undermine the theory presented

    The second paragraph of B seems to utilize or mostly align with the principle of rectification discussed in passage A.

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