LSAT 128 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q8

LR Question 8 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: It is widely accepted that because democratic politics …

QUESTION TYPE: Method of Reasoning

CONCLUSION: A democratic society should refrain from controlling its citizens’ clothing and grooming.

REASONING: Clothing and grooming serve similar expressive functions as free speech, which it is widely accepted that we should protect.

ANALYSIS: The politician’s argument relies on an analogy between freedom of speech/expression (which is widely accepted as essential in democracy) and clothing/grooming (which is claimed to function as a similar form of expression).

The reasoning is that if democratic societies should protect free speech, they should also protect clothing and grooming choices because both serve similar expressive functions.

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1. This would be if the politician claimed that restricting clothing would make democracy impossible. But he didn’t say that – only that it should be treated similarly to speech.
2. The politician doesn’t do this either. This would mean that he argues from a lack of evidence.
3. The premise about free speech is claimed to be widely accepted, but the conclusion (about clothes and grooming) is not based on majority belief. It’s based on an analogy.
4. CORRECT. The politician applies an argument by analogy – applying the logic for protecting free speech to protecting clothing.
5. This is when an argument draws on premises about what ought to be done to conclude on what actually is. But the politician’s conclusion is about what should be done, so this also doesn’t apply.