LSAT 139 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q3

LR Question 3 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Letter to the editor: You have asserted that…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: Private business is inefficient.

REASONING: One private business is inefficient.

ANALYSIS: You have to read between the lines to see the author’s real conclusion.

The author is claiming that philanthropists are already more efficient then private business. They thinks private business is inefficient.

Their evidence? Bywords Corporation is inefficient.

That’s a pretty lousy argument. There are millions of private businesses. Perhaps most of them are very efficient, even if Bywords Corporation isn’t.

___________

1. This is a different error. It’s like saying “we ought to eat junk food, because we do eat junk food”
2. CORRECT. The author assumes that all business are inefficient since Byworks corporation posts losses. That’s a very bad argument. The author would have to examine a representative sample of businesses to properly draw that conclusion.
3. The editor is the proponent of the claim. The author is responding to the editor. The author makes no personal attacks against the editor. In fact, they tell us nothing at all about the editor. Definitely not ad hominem.
4. This is a different error. It’s like saying “There’s no evidence John is a good candidate, so he must be a bad candidate”.
5. This is a different error. It’s like saying “Coffee made me jittery, so I must be a warm, brownish liquid”. I could have thought of a more sensible example, but this made me laugh.