LSAT 106 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q18

LR Question 18 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Dobson: Some historians claim that the people who…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: The people who built the ring didn’t know about celestial events (stars.)

REASONING: Randomness could explain the fact that the stones match up with the equinox.

ANALYSIS: Dobson has proven that there was no evidence Stonehenge was built according to celestial principles.

But he’s confusing absence of evidence and evidence of absence. Dobson hasn’t done anything to prove that Stonehenge wasn’t built according to celestial principles. It could have been built by the stars, even if we don’t have good evidence. Dobson’s conclusion is too strong.

Further, even if Stonehenge wasn’t built according to astrological principle, that doesn’t mean the people who built it didn’t understand the stars. They might have understood celestial events even if they didn’t purposefully use that knowledge when building structures.

___________

1. CORRECT. Just because you fail to prove something doesn’t mean your claim is false. It’s like saying: “You haven’t proven you’re innocent, so you aren’t.”
2. Dobson’s conclusion could be right, it doesn’t contradict his evidence. But we would need further evidence to conclude he is right.
3. Actually, Dobson does the opposite. He takes statements that lend some support to his conclusion and acts as if they definitively prove it.
4. We can verify the fact that there are many stones and that they are likely to have matched some celestial events by their sheer number.
5. Which term is that? Don’t pick this unless you can be sure Dobson uses a term in two different ways and it makes his argument wrong.

Recap: The question begins with “Dobson: Some historians claim that the people who”. It is a Flawed Reasoning question. Learn more about LSAT Flaw questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.