LSAT 103 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q15

LR Question 15 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Editorialist: Society is obliged to bestow the…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: We should give seventeen year olds the privileges of adulthood.

REASONING: Most seventeen year olds are physically mature.

ANALYSIS: This argument forgets that there is a difference between emotional and psychological maturity. You’re surely more emotionally mature than you were at seventeen, even if you stopped physically growing.

___________

1. This isn’t a circular argument. The editorialist has (bad) evidence to support his conclusion: kids stop growing at seventeen.
2. There aren’t any examples. The editorialist is reasoning from general principles.
3. CORRECT. Equivocates means shifting sides. The editorialist switches from using mature in a psychological sense to using mature in an emotional sense.
4. Science is an appropriate authority to help us decide when children are physically mature. There’s nothing wrong with appealing to a relevant authority.
5. It doesn’t matter if some (2%?) of teenagers are mature at sixteen. We’re looking for an age where practically everyone is mature and is legally ready for adulthood. The law can’t examine everyone’s maturity individually, we have to go by age.___________

Recap: The question begins with “Editorialist: Society is obliged to bestow the”. It is a Flawed Reasoning question. Learn how to master LSAT Flaw questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.