"but" indicator

Arete_Southbay

Is "but" a premise or conclusion indicator?

hopefulling

It's neither.

It's a 'counter-premise' indicator, meaning that it introduces something that brings up a point of opposition. (an adversative)

In the CC, we are introduced to the concept of 'although, but, and however', which divide the stimulus into the 'context' (the stuff proceeding it) from the 'main argument' (the stuff after it - either the author's argument or in a hybrid argument someone else's argument).

LOWERCASE EVERYTHING

but/however/yet - these are pivot words after which, at times, the author chimes in.
at other times, they can be used as a counter-premise.

so i wouldn't always take it as a premise/conclusion indicator; in my opinion, it becomes pretty dangerous when you approach the lsat in a formulaic way.

example:
i scored a 180 on the lsat. but i should clarify: that was from an open-book pt i did.
therefore, i don't know if i'll get into yale with that score.