Q20

[ganbayou]

I was not sure between A and C...C means fairer right?
So if C is the correct answer is A actually about passage A?

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Hey ganbayou, I think that's not a bad way of looking at it. Here's another, would be to consider the antonym of "detached?" "Attached," right?

Does either author take a position on the arguments expressed? Yes, the author of Passage A is clearly attached to a view in lines 21-24. The author of Passage B however, doesn't advocate a view personally and so we can say that the author of Passage B displays an attitude that is more detached.

Incorrect Answers
(A) correctly describes the author of Passage A.
(B) might sound more appropriate for the author of Passage A.
(D) is out of scope.
(E) might sound more appropriate for the author of Passage A.

[Didius Falco]

Can anyone offer some more on this one? I picked B in the initial run, thinking that Author 2 was more dismissive of the deterministic conclusions drawn from neuroscience research.

On review, I saw this was off the mark and picked E with confidence, sure that we could identify the Author of passage 2 as skeptical about the deterministic implications of neuroscience research on free will.

I am honestly a little confused as to how I should have grabbed "detached" here. Can anyone for whom this question flowed naturally offer their thoughts on reasoning/ Technique?

Very much appreciated.

[kdaddymax]

I know this is a later response but here are some of my insights. When I had originally made my decision, I was torn between answer choice A and answer choice E, and ended up going with E. In my review I correctly went with C, and here is my reasoning on why both answer choices B and E are incorrect.

Both answer choices B and E are tempting because of the first paragraph, because that is the only place in Passage B in which the author discusses neuroscience and a fully deterministic view. However, there are two important things to recognize here, and I think realizing either one will allow us to eliminate both B and E.

First, from a broader perspective, the question stem is asking us about the attitude passage B display towards "the ideas it discusses;" we must be careful not to limit the scope of the answer to one paragraph or set of ideas, but rather pay attention to the whole...Passage B is not primarily about neuroscience and its deterministic explanations of human actions. Its about more than that.

Second, reread the first paragraph of Passage B several times trying to key in on what you can determine the author believes. The author does not "dismiss" neuroscience's findings or determinism, she simply states them. To go further, she is not "skeptical" about it, she is simply letting us know that there is another perspective in soft determinism. At the end of this passage, we could theoretically add in another paragraph that says something along the lines of "Both soft determinism and determinism are convincing in their own right, however the new insights produced by neuroscience tip the scale in determinism's favor." This is just one example; the passage could also continue to reject determinism entirely in favor of soft determinism, or do the opposite, or express confusion on what the more convincing perspective is. The reason is can do this is because throughout Passage B we have very little insight into what the author actually believes, because the author is far more detached than the author in Passage A, who finishes her passage with a suggested course of action.

[bho.check]

My 2 cents are similar to kdaddymax.

Since this is a comparison and relativity question on what the author's attitudes are, it's obviously important to know both passages in their entirety well.

In Passage A, the author explicitly claims their stance on the matter: "Instead the law SHOULD" <<This is the start of a sentence, meaning it's the author's POV.

In Passage B, the author only uses others' stances: "neuroscience...produces; alfred ayer put forth a theory; david hume; "it has long been argued"; ayer argued" etc... In other words, there is nothing explicit to indicate what the author themselves think. They use the ambiguous "ONE thinks/believes" which appears to be more of an observation than a firm position, unlike Passage A which directly claims what should be done.

Answers:
(A) NO - because this is Passage A
(B) NOT REALLY - s/he doesn't dismiss anything. This would require that they have a strong stance on something, which they don't.
(C) YES (as mentioned above)
(D) NO? I think this would also require they have a stance on something.
(E) NO? Samesies. No strong stance, no strong skepticism.

[gawker]

Passage A is written mostly from the 1st person point of view
Passage B is just referencing other's arguments.
For that reason I thought Passage B was more detached (C)