LSAT 120 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q15

LR Question 15 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: People who have doctorates in the liberal arts are interested…

QUESTION TYPE: Sufficient Assumption

CONCLUSION: Businesses rarely hire people who have doctorates in liberal arts.

REASONING: Businesses rarely hire people who are not motivated by financial gain. And those with doctorates in the liberal arts are interested in improving their intellects.

ANALYSIS: If those interested in improving their intellects were rarely interested in financial gain, then the conclusion would follow logically. That is answer choice E.

___________

1. We’re trying to explain why businesses don’t hire people with doctorates. It is not very helpful to know under what circumstances business would hire people with doctorates.
2. “Some” can mean 1 or 2 people. This doesn’t prove anything.
3. Even if this is true, there could still be many more people interested in improving their intellects and also interested in making money in the business world. This answer choice is an incorrect reversal of the correct answer; it gives intellectual curiosity as a necessary condition for not caring about money. We need it to be a sufficient condition.
4. But why aren’t they hired? That is our question.
5. CORRECT. Yes. If everyone who wants to improve their intellect is not concerned about money, then no business will hire them.

Recap: The question begins with “People who have doctorates in the liberal arts are interested”. It is a Sufficient Assumption question. Learn how to master LSAT Sufficient questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.