LSAT 79, Logical Reasoning II, Q17, LSATHacks

QUESTION TEXT: It is pointless to debate the truth of the law of…

QUESTION TYPE: Identify the Conclusion

CONCLUSION: It is pointless to debate the truth of the law of noncontradiction.

REASONING: Bla bla bla philosophy.

ANALYSIS: This is a much easier question than it seems. Whenever the LSAT makes a value judgment like pointless, useless, etc. that is usually the conclusion.

And since this is an “identify the conclusion” question, you just have to pick that statement! I didn’t figure out what this argument meant when I did this question, and I still haven’t.

You might think this is a cop out, but if I analyzed this argument for you I’d be teaching you a bad habit, and making you worse at the LSAT. This question was testing whether you can figure out what someone is saying even if you don’t understand it. Note that there are structural clues in the argument.

• Pointless = conclusion
• For a debate to be productive = condition for productivity
• But…. = evidence showing the debate isn’t productive
• it matters little = conclusion restated

Pointless and “this matters little” are synonyms. So the right answer could have chosen the first sentence or the final one.

___________

1. CORRECT. See the analysis above.
2. This describes the law of noncontradiction. The argument was about whether it’s useful to debate that law.
3. This is a condition for productive debate given by the author.
4. The author didn’t say this.
5. This is a premise used by the author to support their conclusion that debating the law of noncontradiction isn’t productive.

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