LSAT 135 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q24

LR Question 24 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Books that present a utopian future in which the inequities …

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Parallel Reasoning

CONCLUSION: Gloomy books are unlikely to be very popular.

REASONING: Utopian books always find enthusiastic buyers. Gloomy books are not utopian books.

ANALYSIS: The argument has a very simple (bad) structure:

• Utopian books → popular
• Gloomy books → not utopian
• Therefore, gloomy books → probably not popular.

The flaw is the conclusion. Just because all utopian books are popular doesn’t mean only utopian books are popular.

“Utopian books → popular” is NOT the same thing as “Popular → utopian book”.

There could be lots of other kinds of popular books.

It would be like saying: Labradors are friendly dogs. Poodles aren’t Labradors. Therefore, poodles probably aren’t friendly.

That obviously doesn’t follow.

So we’re looking for this mistake in the answer choices:

If A → B.
C → not A.
Therefore, C → probably not B.

___________

1. This is a different flaw. It assumes that because happy art appeals to tense people, only tense people would like it. The logical structure isn’t the same as the stimulus.
2. This isn’t really flawed. It just argues that enjoying one type of activity doesn’t rule out enjoying another.
3. CORRECT. Same structure. Complicated special effects → Expensive. Traditional dramas/comedies → Not complicated SFX. So, probably not expensive. The movie could still be expensive for many other reasons (famous actors, elaborate sets, etc.), just as gloomy books could still be popular for many other reasons.
4. This discusses two different reasons for musical preferences. Different reasoning pattern.
5. This argument is valid. Self-employed → Fluctuating income. GB → Not self-employed. So, some people with fluctuating incomes are not government bureaucrats.