Principle JustifyDiff: Easy
Logic Breakdown
Passage Summary: A professor's boss won't sign a letter complaining about a politician's interference because she liked it when that same politician interfered with the military's budget.
Conclusion: The department chair is justified in refusing to sign the protest letter against the lawmaker.
Reasoning: The chair had previously supported the lawmaker for criticizing government waste in a different department, so she feels she cannot now criticize him for doing the same thing to her own department.
Analysis: We are looking for a principle that bridges the chair's past action with her current refusal. The chair seems to value consistency—if you cheer for a behavior when it hits your enemies, you shouldn't complain when it hits your friends. The ideal principle will likely state that one should not protest a type of action if one has previously endorsed that same type of action in a different context.
Conclusion: The department chair is justified in refusing to sign the protest letter against the lawmaker.
Reasoning: The chair had previously supported the lawmaker for criticizing government waste in a different department, so she feels she cannot now criticize him for doing the same thing to her own department.
Analysis: We are looking for a principle that bridges the chair's past action with her current refusal. The chair seems to value consistency—if you cheer for a behavior when it hits your enemies, you shouldn't complain when it hits your friends. The ideal principle will likely state that one should not protest a type of action if one has previously endorsed that same type of action in a different context.
Passage Stimulus
Passage Redacted
Unlock Full Passage3.Which one of the following principles, if established, provides the strongest justification for the department chair's refusal, on the ground she gives, to sign the protest letter?
Correct Answer
C
C captures the consistency principle: if one has praised the lawmaker’s watchdog role, one should not criticize the lawmaker for attempting the same role in a similar case that touches one’s own professional interests. That directly justifies the chair’s refusal on the ground she gives.
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