Works of moral philosophy, such as Plato’s Republic or Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, are partly concerned with how to live
a morally good life. But philosopher Jonathan Barnes argues that works that present a method of living such a life without
also supplying a motive are inherently useful only to those already wishing to be morally good—those with no desire for
moral goodness will not choose to follow their rules. However, some works of moral philosophy attempt to describe what
constitutes a morally good life while also proposing reasons for living one.
It provides a characterization about a ﬁeld of thought by noting two works in it and then details a way in which some
works in that ﬁeld are more comprehensive than others.
It mentions two renowned works and then claims that despite their popularity it is impossible for these works to serve
the purpose their authors intended.
It summarizes the history of a ﬁeld of thought by discussing two works and then proposes a topic of further research for
specialists in that ﬁeld.
It describes two inﬂuential works and then explains why one is more widely read than the other.
Choice A is the best answer. The text starts by stating what moral philosophy is concerned with and naming two examples
of works in the ﬁeld. Then it describes a shortcoming of some works in that ﬁeld (they say how but not why), and ﬁnally it
states that other works try to avoid that shortcoming (by including both how and why to live a morally good life).
Choice B is incorrect. This is too extreme. The text never mentions whether the two works are popular or not, and it never
argues that these works don’t serve their intended purpose of describing how to live a morally good life. Rather, the text
claims that works of moral philosophy that don’t include both how and why to be moral are not useful to readers who don’t
already want to be moral. Choice C is incorrect. This isn’t the overall structure. The text never discusses the history of moral
philosophy at all, and it doesn’t propose any topic for further research. Choice D is incorrect. This isn’t the overall structure.
The text never discusses which of the two works is more widely read.