Reading Comprehension

PT152 · S3 · P3 · Q14 The Concept of Blame

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Passage A The legal system rests on the assumption that people use conscious deliberation when deciding how to act—that is, in the absence of external duress, people freely decide how to act.

Passage A

The main takeaway from this passage is the first sentence of last paragraph: let's get rid of "blame" as a part of the legal vocabulary.

How did we get there?

The legal system rests on an assumption of free will, but we're also aware that behavior often takes place in the absence of free will.

So the crucial legal question becomes -- how much of our behavior is truly free? Neuroscience says "none of it is". The author isn't ready to say "none", but she admits in the 3rd paragraph that it's probably only a tiny sliver of our behavior.

Since we don't want court cases to become impossible arguments over whether the defendant's behavior came from a rare bit of free will or from a lifetime of genetic / environmental influences, we should stop trying to debate blame and should just think about how we avert bad behavior in the future.

Passage B

This passage is essentially a continuation of Passage A ---

The idea that 'rational arguments will only get you so far' is foreshadowing the author's argument that there is some emotional/instinctive component to blame that we won't be able to shed: - blaming urge deeply rooted in our psyche - we tried rehabilitation instead of retribution before, and retribution made a comeback. - there seems to be some social function played by blaming, and so the criminal justice system needs to reckon with that as it considers getting rid of "blame" as a concept.

Similarities

Both passages are discussing blame, the legal system, free will, rehab vs. punishment.

Differences

Passage A is arguing we should get rid of "blame". Passage B is arguing,

14.

Both passages are primarily concerned with answering which one of the following questions?

Does the public support rehabilitation
Wrong Emphasis: public support / no "blame"?
Since this doesn't say "blame", which is the central topic of both passages and main points, we shouldn't be attracted to this answer on the first pass. The two passages weren't fighting over whether or not the public would support rehab over punishment. They're debating what they think is appropriate for our legal system to do, in regards to blame. They're not debating what the public would or wouldn't support.
0% picked this
Is the existence of free
Wrong Emphasis: no "blame" or "law"
Again, we should only glance at this and move on, since it doesn't mention 'blame'. If we read it, we might chuckle that it doesn't even mention law. This answer makes it sound like both passages were just written on the intersection of philosophy / neurology.
4% picked this
Does the legal system require
Wrong Emphasis: no "blame"?
Again, there's no mention of blame so there's no temptation to read this closely. If we did, we would see that this poses a question that both authors answer in their very first sentence. Passage A clearly thinks that the legal system does rest on the assumption that people choose freely. Passage B begins by accepting that we don't have free will (don't choose freely) and then asking how the law should behave, as a result. So passage B clearly thinks the legal system is going to move forward, even without the notion of free will / people choosing freely. Even though we can surmise how each passage would answer this question, the passages weren't written to answer this question. Both authors already have an implied answer and don't spend any text at all exploring or defending their answer. Passage B in particular never mentions people freely choosing actions. It just accepts that people lack free will, and never addresses the issue again.
10% picked this
Correct
Should the concept of blame
Why this is right
Well they made this a little easier on us by only giving us one answer that dealt with "blame". Passage A's main point is, "Yes, blame should be removed." That's the beginning of A's final paragraph. Passage B's main point is, "No, blame should not be removed." That's the essence of B's final paragraph. He thinks that blame performs a useful social function that cannot be harmlessly amputated (i.e. to get rid of it would cause harm). He says we should "try to continue to respect the underlying social needs of people needing to blame others".
Skill tested: Main Point · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
86% picked this
Is criminal behavior comparable to
Wrong Emphasis: no "blame"?
Since this doesn't say "blame", which is the central topic of both passages and main points, we shouldn't be attracted to this answer on the first pass. If we bothered to read it, we would see that it's discussing "physical afflictions", which was said in passing in Passage A and never said at all in Passage B.
0% picked this

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