LSAT 101 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q23

LR Question 23 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Essayist: The existence of a moral order in the…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: If ours souls are immortal then the bad will be punished.

REASONING: All moral order punish the bad, eventually. Moral orders depend on the soul being immortal.

ANALYSIS: This confuses sufficient and necessary. We know that if there is a moral order, then souls are immortal (M ➞ S).

We don’t know that if souls are immortal then there is a moral order (S ➞ M). That’s backwards.

___________

1. CORRECT. See the analysis above. Souls are a necessary condition for a moral order, but they aren’t a sufficient condition. But there might not be a moral order, even if the souls are immortal.
2. The argument didn’t say that moral orders did exist. They said if the soul was immortal, then moral order existed.
3. This describes the flaw in reverse. It says the premise was “Immortal Soul ➞ Moral Order”, when really the premised was “M ➞ S”.
4. The first sentence says that all moral orders punish the bad, whatever other differences they might have.
5. This isn’t a circular argument. The conclusion is different from the premises.

Recap: The question begins with “Essayist: The existence of a moral order in the”. It is a Flawed Reasoning question. Learn how to master LSAT Flaw questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.