LSAT 23 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q20

LR Question 20 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Legal rules are expressed in general terms…

QUESTION TYPE: Most Strongly Supported

FACTS: This is a very confusing question. I’ve rewritten the facts using the example of theft to make things clearer. Here are the facts:

Suppose you took a loaf of bread. You reasonably thought you had permission, but you didn’t. Those are matter of fact.

The legal question is: did your actions constitute theft? Whether you legally committed theft doesn’t change the facts of what you did.

Now, for a restatement of the stimulus:

1. Legal rules say how to view people and actions.
   (For example, if you work for someone, you’re an employee. If you steal something, you’ve committed the action of theft.)
2. If you’re trying to apply the law of theft to a particular case, you have to decide if the person actually did what the law calls theft.
3. The decision doesn’t change what happened. It changes how we view what happened. So, for example, say you took a loaf of bread, but you reasonably thought you had permission (even though you didn’t). Legally, you didn’t commit theft, even though the fact remains that you took something without permission (to commit theft, you had to intend to take something without permission).

ANALYSIS: This question is very confusing. I’ve made the facts more concrete by using the example of theft.

___________

1. A matter of fact is just what happened. It doesn’t have anything to do with classifying things. You’re taking the LSAT, that’s a matter of fact. There’s no classification involved.
2. We know nothing about matters of fact.
3. You probably need to know the facts to know how to classify certain actions.
4. Judges aren’t even mentioned. Maybe all applications of rules have to be left to judges.
5. CORRECT. This is it. Whether your taking a loaf of bread is theft is a legal question. It’s not a matter of fact. The facts are, you took a loaf of bread, and you thought you had permission, but you didn’t. The legal question is what to call those actions: theft, or not theft?

Recap: The question begins with “Legal rules are expressed in general terms”. It is a Most Strongly Supported question. Learn more about LSAT MSS questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.