LR Question 15 Explanation
QUESTION TEXT: Jewel collectors, fearing that their eyes will be deceived…
QUESTION TYPE: Principle
CONCLUSION: Counterfeit diamonds should be worth as much as real diamonds. (assuming we can’t tell them apart)
REASONING: A counterfeit should give people as much aesthetic pleasure as a real diamond.
ANALYSIS: This argument is assuming that aesthetic pleasure is the only reason to buy a diamond. But there may be other reasons:
- Exclusivity
- Durability
I can’t think of any others. But those are real things consumers care about. We can strengthen the argument by showing that they don’t matter, and that only aesthetic value matters.
___________
- This is a stupid answer. You have to take LSAT answers literally. This answer means that jewel collectors should collect nothing but the best jewels. This has nothing to do with diamonds. Instead, it means jewelers shouldn’t sell rings that cost $500/$1000/$2000. Instead, they should sell only the most valuable jewels: $1,000,000/$2,000,000/$500,000,000
- Market demand wasn’t mentioned. We have no idea if there’s market demand for aesthetics.
- The question is not whether everyone receives the same aesthetic pleasure. It’s instead whether someone will receive less aesthetic pleasure from a counterfeit than they would have received from a real diamond.
- CORRECT. Counterfeits provide as much aesthetic pleasure as real diamonds. According to this answer, we should therefore value them equally.
- We’re trying to prove that jewelers should buy counterfeit jewels. This answer adds a necessary condition to buying counterfeit jewels. A necessary condition can only help prove when we should not buy counterfeits.
Recap: The question begins with “Jewel collectors, fearing that their eyes will be deceived”. It is a Principle question. To practice more Principle questions, have a look at the LSAT Questions by Type page.
More Resources for Principle Questions
- Intro Course lesson: This intro course lesson covers Principle questions.
- Mastery Seminar lesson: This LR Mastery seminar lesson covers principle questions.
Can we review the reason why A is wrong?
Because only a small number of jewels would give the most aesthetic pleasure. A is like saying “eat only the most tasty food”.
That’s a really dumb principle. Maybe the tastiest food is served a super specific restaurants in Tokyo. Should everyone else on earth starve because they can’t access this absolute best food? According to this principle, yes!
It’s a really dumb principle and doesn’t at all match what the argument was saying. The argument is saying counterfeit jewels are as good as diamonds, but it isn’t saying what you should collect or that diamonds/counterfeits are the literal best jewels.
You have to interpret LSAT statements literally. They can be quite extreme. In real life when someone says “I accept only the best” they don’t REALLY mean it. It’s an insane statement if taken literally. We actually mean “I have high standards”. But on the LSAT, they do mean it literally.
Note: This is an old comment but I wanted to clarify the point.