MCAT Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills Question 74: Answer and Explanation
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Question: 74
2. The author most likely believes that:
- A. vegetarianism is pointless since it cannot be freed from a relation of cruelty with the Other.
- B. Levinas is short-sighted in believing a non-violent relationship with the Other is possible.
- C. vegetarianism is noble in its efforts to limit violence against human and nonhuman animals, but it is not above questioning and criticism.
- D. Derrida is overly extreme in asserting that "vegetarians partake of animals, even men."
Correct Answer: C
Explanation:
C This is an Inference question.
A: No. This answer choice is too extreme. While the author critiques vegetarianism, he never goes so far as to dismiss it as "pointless." Note that in paragraph 1, the author states: "It is necessary both to support vegetarianism's progressive potential but also interrogate its limitations."
B: No. The author does not evoke such critical language with regards to Levinas. Also, we don't know from the text that Levinas does in fact believe that a nonviolent relationship with the Other is possible, only that Levinas, like Derrida, "posits a nonviolent opening to the Other."
C: Yes. The author expresses admiration for vegetarians' efforts to limit their role in violence against animals, but spends the passage highlighting some flaws in the reasoning behind vegetarianism. See paragraph 1: "It is necessary both to support vegetarianism's progressive potential but also interrogate its limitations."
D: No. The author does not criticize Derrida in any way. Note that when the author asks in the middle of paragraph 2, "What does he mean by this," and goes on to say that clearly vegetarians eat neither animals nor people, he is not suggesting that this (literal consumption) is in fact what Derrida is referring to. Rather, the author goes on to explain that Derrida uses "partake" in the sense of symbolic violence towards "the Other."