#23 - Concept Reference, Parallel

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (B).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[jigjigjig]

Could someone explain why AC A is not correct? I thought basing someone's punishment in part on their age would constitute considering an “input,” which passage A rejects, and an attempt at factoring in or correcting an “unmerited disadvantage,” which passage B criticizes.

[jigjigjig]

Could someone explain why AC A is not correct? I thought basing someone's punishment in part on their age would constitute considering an “input,” which passage A rejects, and an attempt at factoring in or correcting an “unmerited disadvantage,” which passage B criticizes.

Just to clarify, the input in this case is someone's age, and the unmerited disadvantage would be something like being more forgetful on account of being younger.

[Jeff Wren]

Hi jigjigjig,

Both passages are critical of the idea that "all the critical factors" (line 19) should be taken into account when administering justice in our human legal systems as the idea of cosmic justice would require. By all factors (i.e. inputs), both passages are referring to all of the unique factors in an individual's life rather than just broad categories like children versus adults (as described in Answer A).

This is why Passage A states "an omniscient being is capable of perfectly considering all these things, but we are not" (lines 23-25). Only an omniscient being would know every single detail of an individual's life in order to properly judge what punishment would be perfect based on a person's entire life. A broader category, like whether someone is a child or adult, is something that our justice system can determine and can account for in the legal system. (For example, minors are generally treated differently than adults in many ways such as privacy in our legal system.)

Passage B discusses "unmerited disadvantages in general" (lines 46-47) and then gives an example of a defendant's traumatic childhood being taken into account during sentencing as what cosmic justice would require, which the author criticizes. As in Passage A, this example indicates that these factors are specific/unique details/circumstances in a person's life.

Answer B, which describes "background factors unique to individual students"(my emphasis) better fits the description of factors/inputs than Answer A.