LSAT 4 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q24

LR Question 24 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: If a society encourages fredoom of thought and expression…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Parallel Reasoning – Exception

CONCLUSION: Freedom of thought was encouraged in the USA during the 18th century.

REASONING: If a society encourages freedom of thought, then it will flourish. Freedom of thought flourished in the 18th century USA.

ANALYSIS: This argument mistakes a sufficient condition for a necessary condition. There could be other reasons why freedom of thought flourishes, even if society doesn’t encourage it.

Encourage Flourish was the premise. It flourished, therefore it must have been encouraged was the mistaken conclusion.

___________

1. Airlines being made safer was a sufficient condition for prices to rise. But there could be other reasons why fares rise.
2. Efficiency improved crime down. We cannot conclude that because crime is down, efficiency improved. Same error.
3. Interested in wildlife no big game hunting. The conclusion is the same incorrect reversal. It assumes that because Gerda will never go hunting then she will therefore care about wildlife.
4. Safe not marked poison. This doesn’t mean that if it isn’t marked poison then it is safe. Perhaps it is mislabeled.
5. CORRECT. Democratic citizens’ opinions have a meaningful impact. This is a good argument, as it uses the contrapositive. Since citizens’ opinions do not have a meaningful impact in any Western country then none of them are democratic.

Recap: The question begins with “If a society encourages fredoom of thought and expression”. It is a Flawed Parallel Reasoning question. Learn more about LSAT Flawed Parallel questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.