June 2007 PrepTest, Section 3, Question 16
By Brandon Beaver | Published October 29, 2024
Type: Most Supported
Difficulty:
Explanations
Okay, so nations aren’t people (duh) and thus have no moral rights or responsibilities (this is an assumption we are just accepting for this question). However, nations can only survive if citizens believe nations have those rights and responsibilities. Thus ______
Well, nations don’t have moral responsibilities, but nations can only survive if citizens believe they do. Thus, nations can only survive if citizens believe a lie?
A
Uh, nope. The author is pretty clear: There is no “something other than the false belief” to make a nation work.
B
Yeah, exactly. Those “some beliefs” refers to the beliefs that (1) a nation has moral rights and (2) a nation has moral responsibilities. According to the first half of the third sentence, believing that nations have those is essential to a nation’s survival. But yet, per the second sentence, nations don’t have those.
C
Moral praise or blame is never mentioned.
D
The worthwhileness of keeping a nation alive is not discussed.
E
No. This would be like arguing that, because some people think these things about nations, we should each treat nations metaphorically, not literally. That’s nonsense.
Passage
Philosopher: Nations are not literally persons; they have n
Question 16
Which one of the following most logically completes the phil