#25 - Jack's aunt gave him her will, asking him to make it

[Yining Bei]

Hi Powerscore,

Could someone please explain why answer choice C is wrong? Is it because the use of word "alternative" isn't a right one to describe the original promise? I chose C over D because I thought "the greatest number of people" is a little too far in describing the situation in the stimulus - Jack giving the money to his mother won't necessarily benefit "the greatest number of people" but will just "harm no one".

Thanks,
Yining

[Adam Tyson]

Hey Yining, thanks for the question. My first look at C had me treating it as a contender, too, but then I noticed that the rule had us choosing an alternative that benefits some and harms none over one that benefits none and harms some. The stimulus didn't tell us that fulfilling the promise and giving the money to George would harm anyone, so even if C was our guiding principle it wouldn't require Jack to make that choice.

I was also a little wary of "greatest number of people", but the language of answer choice D makes clear that we are limited to looking at just the alternatives under consideration, and picking which of those alternatives benefits the most people:

...choose whichever one will benefit the greatest number of people

(emphasis added)

It's not an absolute claim, where we have to do the most good we can possibly do, but a relative claim, where we have to pick the alternative that benefits the most people as compared to the other alternatives under consideration. Giving the money to George benefits nobody, and giving it to his mom benefits some people, so among those two alternatives giving it to mom benefits the greatest amount of people.

I hope that helps! Keep up the good work!

[Yining Bei]

Thanks again Adam for your detailed explanation! I totally missed the part that George's action harms no one, and your explanation definitely makes it obvious! I also appreciate the explanation on how D is a relative statement not an absolute one!

[na02]

Hi,

I think I thought too hard about this question.
I hovered over C and D, then went with E because I thought the promise itself had to be taken care of in some way...
So technically Jack should have made it public regardless of the consequence, but since he did not keep the promise, I thought it meant the promise was no longer binding. I didn't really see Jack actually had "alternatives" to consider as long as that promise was still there...

[Adam Tyson]

The problem with answer E, na02, is that while it would allow Jack to do whatever he wanted, it would not require him to do what he did. The stem told us to pick a principle that would require him to choose to keep the will quiet rather than make it public. Since E imposes no requirements on Jack, but just frees him up to do whatever he wants, that cannot be the right answer.

Jack definitely had alternatives! He could choose to make the will public, or choose not to do so (violating the promise). The fact that he chose not to make it public should be all the proof you need that he had an alternative!

[yuxuan]

I wrongfully chose C for this question. I think C is wrong because of "harms no one". If Jack did not make his aunt's will public, he will hurt his aunt.

[evelineliu]

Hi Yuxuan,

(C) is wrong because we don't know that giving the money to George will harm anyone. All we know is that it won't help anyone. We don't now whether giving the money to George is an alternative that would "harm some and benefit no one."

Best,
Eveline

[queenbee]

Hi
How can we be sure that the option to help the greatest number of people wouldn't harm some people. in the process, in this case George who was supposed to be given the money?
Thanks

[Paul Popa]

Hey Queen,

That's a great question! There's actually no guarantee that the option to help the greatest number of people wouldn't harm anyone; there's always a possibility that the best option that helps the greatest number of people might still harm at least one person, in this case George. Hope this helps!