Mastering Your Reading Skills for Exam Success
Welcome to your reading comprehension practice session. The passage below is written in an academic style similar to what you will encounter on the reading sections of major international exams. To excel, you need to read efficiently and strategically.
Here are some tips to guide you:
- Time Management is Key: For this passage and the 10 questions that follow, aim to finish within 20 minutes. This timing is typical for exam sections and will help you practice pacing yourself.
- Skim for the Main Idea: Before you read in detail, take 1-2 minutes to skim the passage. Read the first sentence of each paragraph. This will give you a mental map of the text and its main arguments. What is the overall topic? How does the argument develop?
- Scan for Specifics: When a question asks about a specific detail, name, or date, scan the text to locate it quickly. Don’t reread the entire passage. Your initial skim should help you know roughly where to look.
- Understand the Question: Read each question carefully. Are you being asked for a specific detail, the main purpose, or an inference? Understanding the question type is half the battle.
Now, set your timer for 20 minutes and begin the reading passage on Political Philosophy.
Reading Passage
Political philosophy, at its core, grapples with fundamental questions about the nature of power, justice, and the ideal organization of society. While these discussions can seem abstract, the theories developed by philosophers centuries ago continue to provide the intellectual architecture for contemporary political systems, debates, and conflicts. Two of the most influential and enduring frameworks are the social contract theory and utilitarianism, each offering a distinct lens through which to view the relationship between the individual and the state.
The social contract tradition, most famously articulated by Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, posits that political authority is derived from an agreement, either actual or hypothetical, among individuals to form a society and be governed. For Hobbes, writing in the shadow of the English Civil War, the state of nature was a brutal “war of all against all.” To escape this chaos, individuals tacitly agree to surrender some of their freedoms to an absolute sovereign in exchange for security and order. Locke offered a more optimistic view, envisioning a state of nature governed by natural law, where individuals possess inalienable rights to life, liberty, and property. For Locke, the social contract is formed not to escape terror but to secure these pre-existing rights, and citizens retain the right to revolution if the government violates this trust. Rousseau, in contrast, argued that the state of nature was a peaceful, primitive condition and that society itself, particularly the advent of private property, corrupted mankind. His version of the social contract, the “general will,” aims to create a political body that allows individuals to be both ruled and free by collectively agreeing to laws they themselves have made.
This dichotomy between security and liberty, a central theme in social contract theory, resonates powerfully in modern political discourse. Debates over government surveillance, for example, often pit a Hobbesian argument for security against a Lockean defense of individual privacy rights. Similarly, discussions about the limits of state power and the legitimacy of civil disobedience are direct descendants of these foundational philosophical inquiries.
Emerging in the 18th and 19th centuries, utilitarianism offered a different, more pragmatic justification for government action. Advanced by thinkers like Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, its core tenet is the “greatest happiness principle.” This principle holds that the morally correct action is the one that maximizes aggregate utility, typically defined as maximizing happiness and minimizing suffering for the greatest number of people. For a utilitarian, the legitimacy of a law or policy is not based on abstract rights or contracts but on its real-world consequences. A policy to fund public healthcare, for instance, would be justified if it could be shown to produce more overall well-being in society than any alternative use of the funds.
The influence of utilitarian logic is ubiquitous in modern governance, particularly in the fields of public policy, economics, and public health. Cost-benefit analyses, which weigh the potential positive and negative outcomes of a project to determine its societal value, are a direct application of utilitarian reasoning. However, this framework is not without its critics. A primary objection is that it can potentially justify sacrificing the rights and well-being of a minority for the sake of a majority’s happiness, a problem that clashes directly with the rights-based approach of thinkers like Locke. The enduring tension between these two powerful philosophies—one grounded in rights and consent, the other in consequences and collective welfare—continues to shape the most pressing political and ethical dilemmas of our time.
Reading Quiz
Keywords & Phrases
Grapples with
This phrasal verb means to try hard to understand or deal with a difficult idea or problem.
How we used it: “Political philosophy, at its core, grapples with fundamental questions…” This means it tries to solve these very difficult and basic questions about power and society.
Intellectual Architecture
This is a metaphorical phrase. “Architecture” is the structure of a building, so “intellectual architecture” refers to the foundational ideas and frameworks that our political systems are built upon.
How we used it: “…provide the intellectual architecture for contemporary political systems…” This means these old philosophies are the blueprint for our modern governments.
Posits
This is a formal verb that means to put forward as a fact or basis for argument.
How we used it: “[The theory] posits that political authority is derived from an agreement…” This means the theory suggests or puts forward this idea as its main point.
Tacitly
An adverb meaning in a way that is understood or implied without being directly stated.
How we used it: “…individuals tacitly agree to surrender some of their freedoms…” This means they agree through their actions (by living in the society) rather than by signing a physical contract.
Inalienable
An adjective describing a right or power that cannot be taken away, given away, or sold.
How we used it: “…where individuals possess inalienable rights to life, liberty, and property.” This means these rights are fundamental to being human and cannot be removed by a government.
Dichotomy
This noun refers to a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different.
How we used it: “This dichotomy between security and liberty…” This points to the sharp contrast or conflict between the two concepts.
Pragmatic
An adjective that means dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.
How we used it: “…utilitarianism offered a different, more pragmatic justification…” This means utilitarianism was based on practical results, not abstract ideas like natural rights.
Tenet
This noun means a main principle or belief of a theory or religion.
How we used it: “…its core tenet is the ‘greatest happiness principle.'” This means the central, most important principle of utilitarianism is this idea.
Aggregate
As a noun or adjective, it refers to a whole formed by combining several separate elements.
How we used it: “…the one that maximizes aggregate utility…” This means the total, summed-up amount of happiness in society.
Ubiquitous
An adjective that means present, appearing, or found everywhere.
How we used it: “The influence of utilitarian logic is ubiquitous in modern governance…” This means you can find examples of utilitarian thinking everywhere in government today.
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