LSAT 109 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q16

LR Question 16 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: The familiar slogan “survival of the fittest” is…

QUESTION TYPE: Necessary Assumption

CONCLUSION: “Survival of the fittest” is true, but also uninteresting and without any scientific value.

REASONING: The statement is a tautology: the fittest are by definition the ones that will survive.

ANALYSIS: Suppose I say that all humans are mortal. I’m not adding anything new: being mortal is part of the definition of being human. If you’re immortal, you’re something else.

So it’s true, and tautological. But isn’t it also interesting? You’re going to die. I’m going to die. Every human is going to die. It’s the central element of our lives.

It’s the most interesting thing in the world. But most people forget it. Most scientists forget it. Saying “all humans are mortal” can be interesting and informative, because it reminds you that you will die, one day.

The argument is assuming that truth is never enough to make something interesting.

___________

1. The argument says that the phrase isn’t information and isn’t scientifically interesting. This answer choice only tells us about claims that are of scientific interest.
2. This particular claim is true, so this answer choice does nothing to the argument. It won’t make a difference if some untrue claims are interesting.
3. We don’t care about all popular slogans. We only care about one slogan: “survival of the fittest.”
4. The public seems to be using survival of the fittest according to its scientific meaning: the most fit will survive. In this case, there’s no difference between popular and scientific meaning.
5. CORRECT. If truth is sufficient for something to be interesting, then this is a bad argument. The author admits in the last sentence that the claim is true.

Recap: The question begins with “The familiar slogan “survival of the fittest” is”. It is a Necessary Assumption question. Learn more about LSAT Necessary questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.