LSAT 152 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q25

LR Question 25 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Stallworth claims that she supported the proposal to build …

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Parallel Reasoning

CONCLUSION: Henning did not support the proposal to build a new community center.

REASONING: Stallworth claims she supported it. If Henning also supported it, it would’ve been approved. But it wasn’t approved.

ANALYSIS: If both Stallworth and Henning supported it, it would’ve been approved.

Both of them claim they supported it, yet it wasn’t approved.

Then the author concludes Henning is lying. But why couldn’t it be Stallworth that’s lying? That’s the issue here.

So, you should look for an answer that similarly takes one testimonial claim as true and uses it to disprove the other, when the other could very well be the mistaken one.

___________

1. CORRECT. This has the same flaw. It accepts the TV news report as true and uses it to reject the newspaper report. But the TV news could be the mistaken source instead.
2. This is just assigning blame – not choosing between two conflicting reports by assuming one is true without justification.
3. This isn’t a flawed argument. If Galindo is right, Kapoor is wrong. It does not actually assume Galindo is right or conclude Kapoor is wrong outright.
4. This is questionable because it accepts a negative claim from Harris’ rivals and uses it to judge her. But it’s not the same conflict between two claims where one is assumed true to disprove the other.
5. This points to two facts that seem in tension and concludes one source is inaccurate.