Isn't there an assumption left as to the means of receiving the fast pass? the propitations and the prostration are the prerequisite to downloading their pass via the disney app. It's not stated that this is the only way to receive the fast pass. It's also not stated that Walt downloaded his pass via the Disney app.
Also if he stole the pass, then the conclusion would also be false.
What if there is a higher tier membership that allows you to access the fast pass without these conditions as well.
@LenyGrunis I thought this as well but the cool thing about this argument is that Walt having the Genie+ pass is not actually relevant at all to the conclusion.
You can remove the Genie+ Pass from your line of reasoning entirely.
Those (members) who have offered ten goats' worth of propitiations to Mickey Mouse can download their Genie+ pass via the Disney app.
All other members must prostrate themselves before Goofy's altar in the Magical Kingdom.
Walt is a member of the Disney vacation club.
Therefore, Walt must have offered the requisite propitiations to Mickey Mouse.
The Genie+ Pass is actually irrelevant here. I got caught up on this argument originally because I felt like there was a logical leap that the Genie+ fast pass is the same as the Genie+ pass in the argument
Why did this terminology change? Could an amusement park not have both a Fast pass and a pass? Could Walt have had the Genie+ Pass BEFORE he became a member?
But then I realized that that the rest of the statements are sufficient without even considering the Fast pass!
@R307 him being a member of the disney vacation club means he is bound by the rules premise that members who have offered 10 goats worth of propitations to mickey mouse can get their Genie+ pass via the app. However the way its worded means that there is no rule binding members who do not download it via the app. He meets one of the conditions as stated, but the other condition is left up for assumption. The conclusion is based on him having the Genie+ pass, not on him having it downloaded via the app, which means you have to assume that he downloaded it via the app.
But is this argument not assuming that Walt had to offer anything to get the fast pass? A clear false assumption in my mind would be that Walt automatically has access to the Genie+ fast pass because he owns the Disney Vacation Club.
@Jresen It's a rule premise. In the world of this Disney problem, premise 3 is an established rule that we are to take as fact for that universe. It's not an intermediate conclusion because it's not a sentence that is concluding anything.
@opb1234 one thing that helped me was asking “why?” when I was trying to determine if a statement was a premise or conclusion. It helped me identify if there were any other statements that offered support to the statement I was trying to determine if it was a conclusion. If there is no explanation or underlying assumption that answer “why?” then it is a premise.
the argument never says that being in the Disney Vacation Club is the only way to gain access to the fast pass. would it not be a possibility that Walt gained acess to the fast pass through another unmentioned route? Even though Walt is in the DVC, and he has the Genie+ pass, it is plausable he could have gotten the latter independiently, no? the argument requires the assumption that the DVC is the only way to acess the Genie+ pass.
@Ll1209! I think the first sentence is used to imply that the DVC members can access the Genie+, meaning that all other customers do not matter. Considering this is discussing DVC members and Walt IS one, he must have used one of the two vessels. Hypothetically, in your situation that Walt DID obtain the Genie+ pass another way, it's simply impossible because he is a DVC member and the DVC members only have 2 methods. You are thinking outside of the bounds of this argument, as it gives you the guidelines.
So in other words, assumptions are missing links between the premises and conclusion. Therefore, the strongest arguments have the least missing links between the premises and conclusion.
@AveryClose From my understanding, if something is a premise, it can't also be an assumption. Assumptions are missing links between the premises and the conclusion. The argument contains a premise that states "Walt is a member of the Disney Vacation Club." We have no reason to believe otherwise, as the argument says he IS a member of the DVC.
I think the difference of the Disney argument compared to the other two is that this argument is conditional. The last sentence says "must have", which means in order for Walt to receive a Genie fast pass he had only two options - either to offer propitiations to Mickey Mouse or to prostrate before Goofy's alter in Magic Kingdom. Since he already received the pass, but didn't prostrate himself to anything the only option left for him is to requisite propitiations.
Why can’t you assume that the goat method is not the only way to get a Genie+ pass? And wouldn’t you assume that the prostration does or doesn’t give you a Genie+ pass, since it isn’t stated whether that gives you a pass? I would assume these things on the test so I might be cooked
@Daisy228 I initially thought the same thing. The trick is in the sentence "as soon as we grant the truth of [the argument's] premises".
If you assume the truths that a) you can offer 10 goats for the Genie+ pass, and b) if you do not offer 10 goats, the only way to get it is to prostrate yourself before the altar, then there is simply no other way to get the pass, and you must do one or the other.
The difference between this and the cat argument is, that even if you take all the premises to be true in the cat argument, it still relies on assumptions to make those premises lead to the conclusion. For example, if you take it as true that the cat licks his paws like that after having eaten something, that does not mean that he doesn't also do that in other circumstances as well. Another example is that one needs to assume that the cat, like most, likes fish (and hence salmon). That may be conventional wisdom, but to accept that would be to take information outside of the argument itself as true and apply that to the situation (or, in other words, it would be making an assumption).
@Daisy228 Nope, never challenge the truth of the premises, you can challenge the strength premises give to the conclusion, but if a premise says something is true it is not to be questioned.
The argument is using what we call conditional reasoning. A better way we can rephrase this would be to say: "If you have the pass, either you Prostrated yourself, or you gave adequate propitiations."
Then we would say, since Walt has the pass and did not prostrate himself, he must have given the propitiations.
I think that there are some assumptions here. One is that he didn't have a pass before this rule. Because it says members of DVC can "now" access the pass. So that makes me assume that the pass is not a new thing, but the rule is. So what if Walt paid full price for it before the perk was implemented.
If this had said there is now a new pass called the Genie+ fast pass and only DVC members can access it, that would have been a sounder argument.
@SRay Yeah another assumption is the pass is only offered on the app. What about a physical pass. The argument states the requirements to pass access on the app only.
I feel that a possible hole in the argument is that there is a secret third option for Disney Vacation Club members to obtain the Genie+ pass. The argument never states that there are exclusively two methods of obtaining the pass.
@JennaCorazzi the use of the term "all other members" in the third premise eliminates the possibility of another option and limits the methods of obtaining the pass to two
At first I thought a possible assumption if we are trying to poke holes in the reasoning would be that non-members of Disney Vacation club can access the Genie+ pass a different way. However, once we mention that Walt is a member of the DVC than that assumption is no longer being made.
I feel that there are a few holes for assumption in this argument.
First, we assume that the Disney Vacation Club Genie+ pass has always had this system that it abides by, in terms of acquiring the pass.
Secondly, an assumption I saw some other individuals point out that I too agree with is that of the Genie+ pass only being accessable by Disney Vacation Club members. What of the other club members?
@ThierryLubin I think since the argument states that Walt has a Genie+ pass and the conclusion is based on this then it doesnt matter if non-members of the Disney Vacation Club also have access since its irrelevant info.
In the argument, it says members can access the genie plus pass. but it nowhere states that thats the only way to get the fast pass and the same principle in my mind applies for the pass on the phone? isnt there an assumption that those are the only ways ( to get the pass and to get the pass on the phone, cause can means permitted or typically allowed but no where does it say "only then can they so and so" ) for both the premises? also isnt there another assumption as to all other members must prostrate themselves? as its assuming the pass is needed or else you must take part in the prostration? My point is that it is a strong argument but doesn't it still have assumptions tho reasonable ones? or am I tripping?
@JonSnowTakestheLSAT There is no unstated assumption in the argument. The use of "can" signals that Disney Vacation Club members are now eligible to access the Genie+ fast pass, but the argument immediately qualifies that eligibility. Members may obtain the pass only if they meet one of two conditions: either offering ten goats in propitiation or prostrating before Goofy's altar. These conditions are presented as mutually exclusive and exhaustive. In other words, while members can get the pass, they cannot obtain it unless they fulfill one of these two requirements. (It is wise to approach "can" statements as way they imply cannot be done)
The mention of downloading the pass via the app is irrelevant to the core logic. It, perhaps, introduces an additional premise, but one that does not affect the validity of the argument. This is common on the LSAT - arguments often contain extra, irrelevant details. Just because a premise appears does not mean it must be used. What matters is whether the conclusion logically follows from the necessary premises. In this case, the conclusion rests on two key facts: Walt has the Genie+ pass, and he has never prostrated himself. Therefore, he must have offered the goats. The argument is valid
I feel like it could be assumed here that Walt hasnt done anything illegal to obtain a pass, (barring the potentiall illegality of animal cruelty), like stealing a pass. The argument also does not stipulate that the passes must be linked to a membership or named card, in which case Walt could potentially have stolen a card that is not tied to personal identity.
A possible assumption is that there wasn't a third method in the past that was phased out, that Walt used and has been grandfathered in to the modern day.
This is what I was thinking. The premise states that all members CAN NOW access Genie pass. That's a crucial phrase isn't it? "Can Now" indicates there were rules from before that might have had something to do with Walts status.
It doesn't state that there are only two ways to get the pass so would it not be a valid assumption to say that there could be a third way to obtain the pass?
what if there is a third way to get the pass, like Walt is related to some senior managers in Disney, they just give the pass to Walt. Isn't this a kind of assumption? or skepticism doesn't count as an valid assumption.
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142 comments
Isn't there an assumption left as to the means of receiving the fast pass? the propitations and the prostration are the prerequisite to downloading their pass via the disney app. It's not stated that this is the only way to receive the fast pass. It's also not stated that Walt downloaded his pass via the Disney app.
Also if he stole the pass, then the conclusion would also be false.
What if there is a higher tier membership that allows you to access the fast pass without these conditions as well.
@LenyGrunis I thought this as well but the cool thing about this argument is that Walt having the Genie+ pass is not actually relevant at all to the conclusion.
You can remove the Genie+ Pass from your line of reasoning entirely.
Those (members) who have offered ten goats' worth of propitiations to Mickey Mouse can download their Genie+ pass via the Disney app.
All other members must prostrate themselves before Goofy's altar in the Magical Kingdom.
Walt is a member of the Disney vacation club.
Therefore, Walt must have offered the requisite propitiations to Mickey Mouse.
The Genie+ Pass is actually irrelevant here. I got caught up on this argument originally because I felt like there was a logical leap that the Genie+ fast pass is the same as the Genie+ pass in the argument
Why did this terminology change? Could an amusement park not have both a Fast pass and a pass? Could Walt have had the Genie+ Pass BEFORE he became a member?
But then I realized that that the rest of the statements are sufficient without even considering the Fast pass!
@R307 him being a member of the disney vacation club means he is bound by the rules premise that members who have offered 10 goats worth of propitations to mickey mouse can get their Genie+ pass via the app. However the way its worded means that there is no rule binding members who do not download it via the app. He meets one of the conditions as stated, but the other condition is left up for assumption. The conclusion is based on him having the Genie+ pass, not on him having it downloaded via the app, which means you have to assume that he downloaded it via the app.
til OTL = prostrate
But is this argument not assuming that Walt had to offer anything to get the fast pass? A clear false assumption in my mind would be that Walt automatically has access to the Genie+ fast pass because he owns the Disney Vacation Club.
@DDriesman since the argument shows that there are only two ways to be a member, any other possibility is irrelevant to us.
I can confirm I offered the goats. Not waiting in those damn lines.
Looking back at this after getting further in the curriculum - why is premise 3 not considered an intermediate conclusion?
@opb1234 can you explain? I just began studying.
@Jresen It's a rule premise. In the world of this Disney problem, premise 3 is an established rule that we are to take as fact for that universe. It's not an intermediate conclusion because it's not a sentence that is concluding anything.
@opb1234 one thing that helped me was asking “why?” when I was trying to determine if a statement was a premise or conclusion. It helped me identify if there were any other statements that offered support to the statement I was trying to determine if it was a conclusion. If there is no explanation or underlying assumption that answer “why?” then it is a premise.
the argument never says that being in the Disney Vacation Club is the only way to gain access to the fast pass. would it not be a possibility that Walt gained acess to the fast pass through another unmentioned route? Even though Walt is in the DVC, and he has the Genie+ pass, it is plausable he could have gotten the latter independiently, no? the argument requires the assumption that the DVC is the only way to acess the Genie+ pass.
@Ll1209! I think the first sentence is used to imply that the DVC members can access the Genie+, meaning that all other customers do not matter. Considering this is discussing DVC members and Walt IS one, he must have used one of the two vessels. Hypothetically, in your situation that Walt DID obtain the Genie+ pass another way, it's simply impossible because he is a DVC member and the DVC members only have 2 methods. You are thinking outside of the bounds of this argument, as it gives you the guidelines.
So in other words, assumptions are missing links between the premises and conclusion. Therefore, the strongest arguments have the least missing links between the premises and conclusion.
Isn't the premises that Walt is a member of the Disney Vacation Club an assumption?
@AveryClose From my understanding, if something is a premise, it can't also be an assumption. Assumptions are missing links between the premises and the conclusion. The argument contains a premise that states "Walt is a member of the Disney Vacation Club." We have no reason to believe otherwise, as the argument says he IS a member of the DVC.
@rksawan Thank you so much for the response, that makes a lot of sense!
I think the difference of the Disney argument compared to the other two is that this argument is conditional. The last sentence says "must have", which means in order for Walt to receive a Genie fast pass he had only two options - either to offer propitiations to Mickey Mouse or to prostrate before Goofy's alter in Magic Kingdom. Since he already received the pass, but didn't prostrate himself to anything the only option left for him is to requisite propitiations.
Why can’t you assume that the goat method is not the only way to get a Genie+ pass? And wouldn’t you assume that the prostration does or doesn’t give you a Genie+ pass, since it isn’t stated whether that gives you a pass? I would assume these things on the test so I might be cooked
@DavidGe Exactly, me too :(
Valid arguments contain no assumptions
when the premises are true it is a valid argument
- valid argument contain no assumptions
Wouldn't "There are only two ways to get the pass" be an assumption?
@Daisy228 I initially thought the same thing. The trick is in the sentence "as soon as we grant the truth of [the argument's] premises".
If you assume the truths that a) you can offer 10 goats for the Genie+ pass, and b) if you do not offer 10 goats, the only way to get it is to prostrate yourself before the altar, then there is simply no other way to get the pass, and you must do one or the other.
The difference between this and the cat argument is, that even if you take all the premises to be true in the cat argument, it still relies on assumptions to make those premises lead to the conclusion. For example, if you take it as true that the cat licks his paws like that after having eaten something, that does not mean that he doesn't also do that in other circumstances as well. Another example is that one needs to assume that the cat, like most, likes fish (and hence salmon). That may be conventional wisdom, but to accept that would be to take information outside of the argument itself as true and apply that to the situation (or, in other words, it would be making an assumption).
Hope that helps!
@mhenwohl OHHHHH wait I read this a couple of timesand I think I am getting to the point.
You are amazing thanks!!
@Daisy228 no problem :)
@Daisy228 Nope, never challenge the truth of the premises, you can challenge the strength premises give to the conclusion, but if a premise says something is true it is not to be questioned.
The argument is using what we call conditional reasoning. A better way we can rephrase this would be to say: "If you have the pass, either you Prostrated yourself, or you gave adequate propitiations."
Then we would say, since Walt has the pass and did not prostrate himself, he must have given the propitiations.
@mhenwohl Very helpful explanation, thank you.
valid argument = if premises are true (i.e. no assumptions/missing links)--->then conclusion has to be true
I think that there are some assumptions here. One is that he didn't have a pass before this rule. Because it says members of DVC can "now" access the pass. So that makes me assume that the pass is not a new thing, but the rule is. So what if Walt paid full price for it before the perk was implemented.
If this had said there is now a new pass called the Genie+ fast pass and only DVC members can access it, that would have been a sounder argument.
@SRay Yeah another assumption is the pass is only offered on the app. What about a physical pass. The argument states the requirements to pass access on the app only.
valid arguments have zero assumptions
I feel that a possible hole in the argument is that there is a secret third option for Disney Vacation Club members to obtain the Genie+ pass. The argument never states that there are exclusively two methods of obtaining the pass.
@JennaCorazzi the use of the term "all other members" in the third premise eliminates the possibility of another option and limits the methods of obtaining the pass to two
At first I thought a possible assumption if we are trying to poke holes in the reasoning would be that non-members of Disney Vacation club can access the Genie+ pass a different way. However, once we mention that Walt is a member of the DVC than that assumption is no longer being made.
I feel that there are a few holes for assumption in this argument.
First, we assume that the Disney Vacation Club Genie+ pass has always had this system that it abides by, in terms of acquiring the pass.
Secondly, an assumption I saw some other individuals point out that I too agree with is that of the Genie+ pass only being accessable by Disney Vacation Club members. What of the other club members?
A possible assumption is that: Only Disney Vacation Club members can access the Genie+ fast pass.
What if other groups of individuals not club members can access the Genie+ pass through a different method?
@ThierryLubin I think since the argument states that Walt has a Genie+ pass and the conclusion is based on this then it doesnt matter if non-members of the Disney Vacation Club also have access since its irrelevant info.
In the argument, it says members can access the genie plus pass. but it nowhere states that thats the only way to get the fast pass and the same principle in my mind applies for the pass on the phone? isnt there an assumption that those are the only ways ( to get the pass and to get the pass on the phone, cause can means permitted or typically allowed but no where does it say "only then can they so and so" ) for both the premises? also isnt there another assumption as to all other members must prostrate themselves? as its assuming the pass is needed or else you must take part in the prostration? My point is that it is a strong argument but doesn't it still have assumptions tho reasonable ones? or am I tripping?
@JonSnowTakestheLSAT There is no unstated assumption in the argument. The use of "can" signals that Disney Vacation Club members are now eligible to access the Genie+ fast pass, but the argument immediately qualifies that eligibility. Members may obtain the pass only if they meet one of two conditions: either offering ten goats in propitiation or prostrating before Goofy's altar. These conditions are presented as mutually exclusive and exhaustive. In other words, while members can get the pass, they cannot obtain it unless they fulfill one of these two requirements. (It is wise to approach "can" statements as way they imply cannot be done)
The mention of downloading the pass via the app is irrelevant to the core logic. It, perhaps, introduces an additional premise, but one that does not affect the validity of the argument. This is common on the LSAT - arguments often contain extra, irrelevant details. Just because a premise appears does not mean it must be used. What matters is whether the conclusion logically follows from the necessary premises. In this case, the conclusion rests on two key facts: Walt has the Genie+ pass, and he has never prostrated himself. Therefore, he must have offered the goats. The argument is valid
I feel like it could be assumed here that Walt hasnt done anything illegal to obtain a pass, (barring the potentiall illegality of animal cruelty), like stealing a pass. The argument also does not stipulate that the passes must be linked to a membership or named card, in which case Walt could potentially have stolen a card that is not tied to personal identity.
A possible assumption is that there wasn't a third method in the past that was phased out, that Walt used and has been grandfathered in to the modern day.
This is what I was thinking. The premise states that all members CAN NOW access Genie pass. That's a crucial phrase isn't it? "Can Now" indicates there were rules from before that might have had something to do with Walts status.
It doesn't state that there are only two ways to get the pass so would it not be a valid assumption to say that there could be a third way to obtain the pass?
My understanding is that because the second scenario begins with "All other members," these are the only two possible ways to get the pass.
But what's disallowing a third non-member way?
what if there is a third way to get the pass, like Walt is related to some senior managers in Disney, they just give the pass to Walt. Isn't this a kind of assumption? or skepticism doesn't count as an valid assumption.
because it says ALL OTHER MEMBERS must do wtv to goofy we are to believe that these are the only 2 ways to enter