November 2018 LSAT Section 3 Question 17

It is most likely that the authors of the passages would disagree with each other about the truth of which one of the...

Lucie on November 12, 2019

Why is B correct?

Hello! Could you explain more about the stances between the passages, and in particular the language in passage B that indicates its stance? Thanks!

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SamA on November 12, 2019

Hello @Lucie,

It seems you understand that Author A would agree with answer choice B. To explain it briefly, take a look at line 24: "Blameworthiness should thus be removed from the legal argot." The author concludes this based on the very limited capacity of free will. People have at most a small amount of control over their actions, so they should not be blamed.

Let's identify the author's stance in passage B. Author B seems to accept that free will is very limited, or at least he/she does not dispute this. However, the author believes that blame has a role in society, regardless of free will. See line 51: "My sense is that blaming performs some useful social function, even if it is in some way 'false'." This tells me that Author B would disagree with answer choice B, making it a point of contention between the two authors.