LSAT 103 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q8

LR Question 8 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Sociologist: The welfare state cannot be successfully implemented…

QUESTION TYPE: Identify the Conclusion

CONCLUSION: The welfare state won’t work.

REASONING: The welfare states requires us to be unselfish. But we’re selfish.

ANALYSIS: To find the conclusion, always ask yourself: why is this guy telling me this?

That’s often enough to find the conclusion. There’s no reason for the sociologist to go on about how selfish we are, except that it proves his argument that the welfare state won’t work.

___________

1. CORRECT. The first sentence is often the conclusion, as with this argument.
2. The sociologist didn’t say that the welfare state was bad or that we ought to be selfish. He just said the welfare state wouldn’t work.
3. The last sentence shows the sociologist thinks we are selfish. He says, we must be unselfish for the welfare state to work, but….
4. The sociologist thinks this is true, in a welfare state. But it isn’t the conclusion.
5. The second sentence shows this is true. But this isn’t the main point. Because the welfare state depends on generosity and unselfishness, it won’t work.

Recap: The question begins with “Sociologist: The welfare state cannot be successfully implemented”. It is a Identify The Conclusion question. Learn more about LSAT Identify questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.