LSAT 101 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q10

LR Question 10 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: All material bodies are divisible into parts, and…

QUESTION TYPE: Sufficient Assumption

CONCLUSION: The spirit isn’t material.

REASONING: Material ➞ divisible ➞ imperfect

Contrapositive:

perfect ➞ indivisible ➞ not material

ANALYSIS: This is an excellent question to diagram. We’re trying to prove the spirit if not material. We can do this by showing that the spirit is perfect or that the spirit is indivisible.

We’re not told anything about the spirit in the stimulus. The right answer has to tell us something about the spirit so we can connect the spirit to the conclusion.

___________

1. This doesn’t say anything about the spirit.
2. This says that if you’re imperfect, you’re divisible. This tells us nothing about the spirit.
3. If the spirit is divisible, that only tells us that it is imperfect.
4. CORRECT. If the spirit is perfect, then it isn’t divisible, and therefore it isn’t material.
5. This doesn’t help. If the spirit is indivisible, then it is imperfect. But according to this answer choice, it’s possible that the spirit is never indivisible and always imperfect. We need certainty.

Recap: The question begins with “All material bodies are divisible into parts, and”. It is a Sufficient Assumption question. Learn more about LSAT Sufficient questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.