Assumptions

kmatt

Anyone have any good advice on how to recognize assumptions better? I feel like a lot of my LR answers are wrong because I can't figure out the assumption.

FautApprendreLSAT1

Assumptions are basically the missing (or unstated) premises upon which the argument is based. They are the gaps between explicits premises and the conclusion. A solid argument is one that has as few of these gaps as possible. For example, if a stimulus reads: " Jenny loves to go on morning runs. People who go on morning runs are very disciplined in other areas of their lives. So, Jenny lives a healthy lifestyle..." This is not the strongest example out there, but obviously the argument makes an unwarranted leap from the premises to the conclusions. The assumption is that being disciplined translates to a healthy lifestyles. To strengthen the argument, you have to remedy the assumption or close the gap with something like "all people who are disciplined in their lives live a health lifestyle." This is similar, if not identical, to how I answer NA questions. Any other reverse statement would further weaken the argument.

In short, the way I figure out the assumptions in an argument is:
1. ID the conclusion + premises and ask myself: do the premises 100% support this conclusions?
2. If not 100%, then what assumption or leap must be made in order to make the support relationship 100%?

I think the most important thing in gaining the ability to find the assumption is your grasp of the relationship between the premises and the conclusion. If you can see how the premises support or do not support an argument, you can find the assumptions when they are present.

Hope this helps.