LR Question 12 Explanation
QUESTION TEXT: Politician: It is wrong for the government to restrict…
QUESTION TYPE: Must be True
ANALYSIS: The publisher’s statements only tell us what is right and wrong for a government to do. They should not restrict liberty, unless perhaps harm will be caused.
Since publishing offensive materials does not cause harm, the government should not restrict their publication.
___________
- CORRECT. Yes. Since the materials cause no harm, there can be no reason for restricting their publication.
- We only know that in some circumstances it is not wrong. The stimulus qualifies the first premise with an “except perhaps.”
- Find me something in the stimulus that describes when a government’s actions will be either offensive or harmful.
- Find me something in the stimulus which discusses whether an individual’s actions will be offensive.
- This goes too far. We cannot conclude that it would be wrong to restrict publication of literature which causes medium level harm, for example.
Recap: The question begins with “Politician: It is wrong for the government to restrict”. It is a Must be True question. Learn more about LSAT MBT questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.
More Resources for Must Be True Questions
- Conditional Reasoning Article: Learn about conditional statements on the LSAT.
- LR Diagrams Guide: Learn how to draw LR diagrams.
- Intro to Conditional Reasoning: This intro course lesson covers conditional reasoning basics.
- Intro Course lesson: This intro course lesson covers Must Be True questions.
- Mastery Seminar lesson: This LR Mastery seminar lesson covers must be true questions.
Could B be correct if the stimulus more strictly said “except when” instead of “except PERHAPS when” ? Or could we still not conclude something is “not wrong” even with this clearly carved out exception?
Yes. If the politician had said “except when”, the argument would give a definite exception rather than a tentative one. In that case, we could infer that restricting liberty is not wrong fen failing to do so would allow harm (answer B).
But since the phrasing does include “perhaps”, the exception is only hypothetical and not definitive. So we can’t conclude that such restrictions are not wrong – we only know the politician allows the possibility.
Hope that helps! Let me know if you have further questions.