LSAT 109 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q21

LR Question 21 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Terry: Some actions considered to be bad by our society have…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: Terry’s conclusion is that some things that we think are bad are actually good.

Pat has the same conclusion.

REASONING: Terry’s Reasoning is that some actions we think are bad have favorable consequences (some TB ➞ F), and an action is good only if it has favorable consequences (G ➞ F).

Pat’s reasoning is that some good actions have no favorable consequences ( Some G ➞ F). And, if society thinks something is bad, then it has no favorable consequences (TB ➞ F).

ANALYSIS: Both Terry and Pat mistake necessary conditions for sufficient conditions.

First, I’ll use an outside example. You need to graduate from law school to be a lawyer (L ➞ LS). But you don’t have to be a lawyer if you graduate from law school.

Let’s start with Terry. Good things need to have favorable consequences (G ➞ F). But just because you have favorable consequences doesn’t mean you’re good. Almost everything has some good consequence.

Now Pat. Some good things have no favorable consequences (Some G ➞ F). Being polite in certain situations, for example. And things we think are bad have no favorable consequences (TB ➞ F) e.g. murder. But that doesn’t mean the two groups overlap. “Not favorable” is not a sufficient condition for either group.

___________

1. This means: assuming that if two things have one difference, then they have many differences.
2. Here’s an example: most Americans are women (true), therefore all Americans are women (false).
3. This means: If Americans shake hands when they greet each other, then people must do the same thing in China.
4. CORRECT. This is it. See the discussion above.
5. This means: if both running and walking use our legs, then that’s the only difference running and walking have from everything else we do. It’s pretty stupid.

Recap: The question begins with “Terry: Some actions considered to be bad by our society have”. It is a Flawed Reasoning question. Learn how to master LSAT Flaw questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.