Critical Reasoning

Some argue that laws are instituted at least in part to help establish a particular moral fabric in society. But the primary function of law is surely to help order society so that its institutions, organisations, and citizenry can work together harmoniously, regardless of any further moral aims of the law. Indeed, the highest courts have on occasion treated moral beliefs based on conscience or religious faith as grounds for making exeptions in the application of laws.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following ?

a) The manner in which laws are applied sometimes takes into account the beliefs of the people governed by those laws.
b) The law has as one of its functions the ordering of society but is devoid of moral aims.
c) Actions based on religious belief or on moral conviction tend to receive the protection of the highest courts.
d) The way a society is ordered by law should not reflect any moral convictions about the way society ought to be ordered.
e) The best way to promote cooperation among a society's institutions, organizations, and citizenry is to institute order in that society by means of law.


Can anyone explain options C and D

vishalwin wrote:Can anyone explain options C and D

c) Actions based on religious belief or on moral conviction tend to receive the protection of the highest courts.

The clear issue here is the use of the word tend. While the prompt says that these types of actions have on occasion received the protection of the highest courts, it does not say that the courts tend to protect these types of actions.

d) The way a society is ordered by law should not reflect any moral convictions about the way society ought to be ordered.

The prompt discusses "the primary function of law" and "further moral aims of the law", and does not say that the law should not have any moral aims.

I would go for A.. As this is an inference question, option A can be proved from the prompt, unlike the others.

What's the OA?