LSAT 155 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q22

LR Question 22 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Essayist: The historical figures that we find most engaging…

QUESTION TYPE: Necessary Assumption

CONCLUSION: Moral virtue is not among the characteristics we admire most.

REASONING: People don’t find virtuous characters engaging. The people whose lives we most want to live are the people whose characters we admire most.

ANALYSIS: The essayist’s logic looks like this:

Virtuous ➞ not engaging

Admire characteristics ➞ want to live life

Therefore, virtue ➞ not admired

There’s a step missing here. We’ve connected virtue to not being engaging, and admiring characteristics to wanting to live that life. But we can’t yet connect those to draw the essayist’s conclusion. They’re assuming the connection, and we need to find that connection in the answer choices.

In order to best bridge that logical gap, it will probably connect engaging historical figures to those whose lives we most want to live. Although it could also work to connect virtue to not wanting to live the person’s life, or to connect engaging historical figures to being admired for their characteristics, these are less likely because they do not incorporate all of the premises put forward by the essayist’s argument.

___________

1. CORRECT. This is perfect – exactly the connection that we prephrased above.
2. This is not an assumption the essayist requires. This would contrast moral virtue with bravery and creativity, but that does not advance the argument.
3. The argument does not rely on moral virtue being rare.
4. The conclusion is that virtue is generally not most admired. It doesn’t matter what factors go into admiration of a specific person.
5. This is not an assumption of the argument. It doesn’t help connect the two parts of the argument either – it only re-emphasizes that virtuous characters are not engaging.

Recap: The question begins with “Essayist: The historical figures that we find most engaging”. It is a Necessary Assumption question. Learn more about LSAT Necessary questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.