Which one of the following most accurately characterizes the difference between the kind of right referred to in pass...

shunhe on August 5, 2020

Hi @kelsgorman,

Thanks for the question! So we’re asked here to find an answer choice that characterizes the difference between a right in passage A from lines 11-13 and a right in passage B in line 50. Well, since we’re given specific line numbers, we should go to those lines (reading, of course, above and below to make sure we understand the full context of those lines). And since we’re being asked for the difference between the two, and we’re given specific lines, this is definitely a problem where we should try to think about what the answer is before we look at the answer choices.

Let’s start off with passage A. In lines 11-13, we’re told about bullies who forfeit the right not to be interfered with by others, and liars who forfeit the right to be dealt with honesty. So what kind of right is being talked about here? The rights are about how other people deal with you Since bullies interfere with others, they lose their right not to be interfered with. And since liars aren’t honest, they lose their right for people to deal with them honestly. So that’s the kind of right talked about in passage A.

Now as for passage B: line 50 tells us about the Kantian right rather than a duty. Specifically, reading the sentence after from lines 50-52, we’re told that rational beings can’t object to being treated how they treat others. And understanding this whole paragraph, it’s talking about what we can do to offenders. We don’t have a duty to do anything to offenders, but we do have a right. So we can lie to liars or bully bullies, it’s a right that we have to do some action to someone else.

So what’s the big difference here? Seems to be one right that deals with how people treat us, and one right that talks about how we get to treat other people. (E) summarizes this pretty well. Passage A talks about behavior you’re entitled to from others (how people treat you) and passage B talks about behavior you’re licensed to engage in (that you get to do to others).

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

kelsgorman on August 6, 2020

Thank you! That was a very helpful explanation.

shunhe on August 6, 2020

Glad you found it helpful!

@MichaelaJ on November 19, 2023

So is answer choice C the opposite of answer choice E?

Emil-Kunkin on November 20, 2023

I don't think they're opposites. C is saying that one right is a right held by a group and the other is a right held by individuals. This says nothing about the character of the right, only about who holds the right.

E talk about two different kinds of rights, one being a right to treatment from others, the other about the right to treat others in a certain way. This says nothing about who is entitled to the right.