Reading Comprehension

There is an essential and irreducible 'duality' in the normative conceptualisation of an individual person. We can see the person in terms of his or her 'agency', recognizing and respecting his or her ability to form goals, commitments, values, etc., and we can also see the person in terms of his or her 'well-being'. This dichotomy is lost in a model of exclusively self-interested motivation, in which a person's agency must be entirely geared to his or her own well-being. But once that straitjacket of self-interested motivation is removed, it becomes possible to recognize the indisputable fact that the person's agency can well be geared to considerations not covered - or at least not fully covered - by his or her own well-being. Agency may be seen as important (not just instrumentally for the pursuit of well-being, but also intrinsically), but that still leaves open the question as to how that agency is to be evaluated and appraised. Even though the use of one's agency is a matter for oneself to judge, the need for careful assessment of aims, objective, allegiances, etc., and the conception of the good, may be important and exacting.

To recognize the distinction between the 'agency aspect' and the 'well-being aspect' of a person does not require us to take the view that the person's success as an agent must be independent, or completely separable from, his or her success in terms of well-being. A person may well feel happier and better off as a result of achieving what he or she wanted to achieve - perhaps for his or her family, or community, or class, or party, or some other cause. Also it is quite possible that a person's well-being will go down as a result of frustration if there is some failure to achieve what he or she wanted to achieve as an agent, even though those achievements are not directly concerned with his or her well-being. There is really no sound basis for demanding that the agency aspect and the well-being aspect of a person should be independent of each other, and it is, I suppose, even possible that every change in one will affect the other as well. However, the point at issue is not the plausibility of their independence, but the sustainability and relevance of the distinction. The fact that two variables may be so related that one cannot change without the other, does not imply that they are the same variable, or that they will have the same values, or that the value of one can be obtained from the other on basis of some simple transformation.

The importance of an agency achievement does not rest entirely on the enhancement of well-being that it may indirectly cause. The agency achievement and well-being achievement, both of which have some distinct importance, may be casually linked with each other, but this fact does not compromise the specific importance of either. In so far as utility-based welfare calculations concentrate only on the well-being of the person, ignoring the agency aspect, or actually fails to distinguish between the agency aspect and well-being aspect altogether, something of real importance is lost.


Question 1

1. According to the ideas in the passage, the following are not true except:

A) The value of a person's well-being cannot be obtained from the value of her agency.
B) A person's agency aspect is independent of her well-being aspect.
C) A person's agency is important because her well-being must depend on her agency.
D) A person's agency must be entirely geared towards her own well-being.
E) A person's well-being will be dependent on her agency in all circumstances.

Question 2

2.In the case of Japan, there is a strong empirical evidence to suggest that systematic departure from self-interested behaviour, in the direction of duty, loyalty and goodwill has played a substantial part in industrial success.
Which of the following is closest to the ideas presented in the passage?

A) Japanese are duty bound selfless people.
B) The sense of well-being of the Japanese people gets consistently enhanced due to this systematic departure from the self-interested behaviour.
C) Had there been no enhancement of their own well-being, the Japanese people would have not been dutiful.
D) Ability to achieve their country's objectives may have enhanced the sense of well-being of Japanese people. However the agency of the Japanese people in their industrial success is probably derived from factors beyond this sense of well-being.
E) Japanese people's adherence to ethos of duty, loyalty and goodwill can well be explained within the paradigm of self-interested behaviour.

Question 3

3. Of the options presented below, which one is the best example for the ideas propounded in the passage?

A) 'Change for Equality' was a campaign by women of Iran to remove discrimination against women in their country. Activists of the movement were attacked and jailed by the government, but the campaign continued.
B) In January 2011, the Egyptian people came out against the regime to topple it. Their grievances included police atrocities, state emergency laws, lack of free election, and lack of freedom of speech, corruption, unemployment, food price inflation and low minimum wages.
C) A worker immolated himself to highlight injustice being perpetrated by the management against the employees in the company.
D) The factory workers carried on with the strike in demand for increased wages, even though they were not paid wages for the duration they were on strike.
E) A politician went on a hunger strike against corruption which not only galvanised the state government in enacting new laws, but also increased his image in the minds of the voters.

Question 4

4.Read the sentences given below and choose the option that is best in accordance with the ideas
in the passage.

I.There is a need to distinguish between the agency aspect and the well-being aspect of a person.
II.A person can be conceptualised in terms of either agency or well-being.
III.Agency is important, not just instrumentally, for the pursuit of well-being.

A) I only
B) II only
C) Ill only
D) I and III
E) II and III

Question 5

5. The idea of agency, as used in the passage, is implied in all the options given below, except:

A) A student arguing for a grade revision.
B) A lawyer arguing the case for his rich client.
C) A politician on dharna to gain publicity.
D) A hungry child crying for food.
E) A ascetic praying for world peace

OE: A,D,E,D,E

IMO:

1A
2D
3A
4A
5E

Is it just me? this passage was really tough!!