Intermediate Conclusion

kiwoo180

Can a claim that's not supported be considered as an intermediate conclusion?
Can intermediate conclusions be attacked (even though they're also a premise?)

Asking due to PT 67 LR Section 4 Q24 - If we accept that If not Larocque, then Student, why would C weaken the argument?

Admin Note: https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-67-section-4-question-24/

noonawoon

I don't think that an unsupported claim can be considered an intermediate conclusion.

To be an intermediate conclusion, a statement needs to both have a premise supporting it and be its own premise that supports another conclusion.

I just looked at the question you have in mind - it doesn't seem to have an intermediate conclusion. Which sentence do you recognize as an intermediate conclusion?

Remember that a weaken answer choice doesn't have to totally destroy the argument - it just has to weaken it much more than any of the other answer choices do. C does this because the argument is saying Larocque did not use this pigment, so his students must have painted these pictures. C weakens by saying that his students also never used the pigment - so how can we use the pigment to differentiate between whether he painted this or his students did? He and his students are on equal footing in terms of likelihood of painting this picture, if we judge by the use of this pigment

Let me know if you have questions or need any more clarification!