NA questions

Anonymous-3-1-1-1-1

Is the answer choice of a NA question supposed to be a necessary assumption only between premises and conclusion or it can also be a necessary assumption between premises?

Claudia77

A necessary assumption is necessary for the conclusion to be true. If the necessary assumption is false, the conclusion cannot stand. For NA questions, you want to find an assumption that, if false, would prevent the conclusion from being true.

Anonymous-3-1-1-1-1

@Claudia77 said:
A necessary assumption is necessary for the conclusion to be true. If the necessary assumption is false, the conclusion cannot stand. For NA questions, you want to find an assumption that, if false, would prevent the conclusion from being true.

So it's between premises and conclusion?

ClaudioD21

@"Anonymous-3-1-1-1-1" said:

@Claudia77 said:
A necessary assumption is necessary for the conclusion to be true. If the necessary assumption is false, the conclusion cannot stand. For NA questions, you want to find an assumption that, if false, would prevent the conclusion from being true.

So it's between premises and conclusion?

You can think of the NA as an assumption where, if the conclusion is true, the NA must also be true. This is different from the SA in that the SA is an assumption that would make the conclusion 100% valid. The NA, on the other hand, is what HAS to be true if the conclusion is valid. In essence, the SA is basically a “hidden” premise that validates the conclusion. The NA is simply what must be true if said conclusion is valid. Without the NA, the conclusion of the argument would be destroyed. Hope that makes sense. I would highly recommend “The Loophole in LSAT Logical Reasoning” by Ellen Cassidy. She does a great job at differentiating the SA from the NA and explaining them.