LSAT 144 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q16

LR Question 16 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: When surveyed about which party they would like to see…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: Most people want a parliament split between Liberals, Conservatives and Moderates.

REASONING: The survey found that 40% of people want Conservative, 20% want Moderate and 40% want Liberal.

ANALYSIS: This argument makes a whole-to-part flaw. The overall preferences of the electorate add up to 40/20/40. But that doesn’t mean that any individuals prefer that split. For instance, Conservative supporters probably want 100% conservatives to be elected, and Liberal supporters probably want 100% Liberals to be elected.

For a concrete example, the author of this piece would assume that every American wants a President who is half Republican and half Democrat. When in reality, half want a Republican, and half want a Democrat.

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1. This is a different flaw: moving from facts to moral judgement.
   Example of flaw: Most people eat at least some junk food. So it is morally good for people to eat junk food.
2. This is circular reasoning, a different flaw.
   Example of flaw: The Conservatives should be elected because the Conservatives should be elected.
3. CORRECT. This matches. The author took the overall survey preferences of the whole country and assumed each individual must feel the same way.
4. The argument says “if the survey results are reliable.” So the author already accounted for this possibility.
5. Nonsense. The evidence is very precise: 40%, 20%, 40%.