Rhonda: As long as the cost is not too great, you should use your time, energy, or money to help others. People who a...

shunhe on July 7, 2020

Hi @Sheikhd,

Thanks for the question! So let’s take a look at what Rhonda and Brad are saying. So Rhonda’s basically saying help other people as long as the cost isn’t too great. Why? Because you’ll have a richer life for doing so, which in the end can be considered a “selfish” reason in that it benefits you.

Brad’s saying to ignore the problems of strangers and help people close to you. Why? Because they’ll reciprocate when you yourself are in need, which again in the end can be considered a “selfish” reason in that it benefits you.

Now we’re asked for a principle that helps to justify both arguments. Let’s take a look at (C), which says that you should act in ways that’ll benefit yourself. Well, we know that you’ll benefit yourself under Rhonda’s arguments, since you’ll have a richer life. And you’ll benefit yourself under Brad’s arguments, since you’ll get help when you need it. So (C) helps justify both arguments and is the correct answer.

(A) is wrong because neither talks about producing the most benefit for the most people. Rhonda thinks there’s a limit (as long as the cost isn’t too great), and Brad thinks you should ignore the problems of strangers entirely.

(B) is wrong because neither of them tell us about how they would want to be treated, which we can’t infer.

(D) is wrong because Rhonda doesn’t talk about people returning the favor, just that you’ll have a richer life, so it doesn’t help justify Rhonda’s argument.

(E) is wrong because the idea of “pride” isn’t brought up by either person.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.