PT48.S4.Q13 - columnist: tagowa's testimony in the pemberton trial

danielznelson

https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-48-section-4-question-13/


I understand why "A" is correct but still cannot arrive at why "E" is incorrect. My thought was that "E" allowed for the possibility that instead of not believing the testimony, some just did not find the testimony (which may have been one that implicated the defendant) significant enough to render a guilty verdict. In other words, all members of the jury could have believed the testimony, yet some may not have viewed it as significant enough to decide on a guilty verdict.

Does "E" just not draw upon the flaw in the reasoning behind the conclusion from the premises?

I was close to understanding this in last night's BR call, though I think I still need more input to clear my mind up on this.

Thanks in advance!

daniel.noah.pearlberg

Yeah, you have to be careful with flaw questions- many incorrect answer choices describe things that would be flaws if the author of the argument had indeed reasoned in that way, but they are not the correct answer because the author did not in fact reason in that way. In this argument, the author uses the premises that (i) the witness thought the defendant was guilty; and (ii) the jury found the defendant not guilty, to conclude that the not all of the jury members believed the witnesses's testimony. This only makes sense if there is a connection between the witness's testimony and the witnesses's thinking that the defendant was guilty. (E) could have been correct if the argument went like this: (i) the witness gave testimony that many people thought implicated the defendant; (ii) the fury found the defendant not guilty; (conclusion) not all of the jury members believed the witnesses's testimony.

danielznelson

Gotcha. I think it was obvious enough that "E" wasn't addressing the flaw in the reasoning, but it I found it difficult to distinguish the actual difference between "E" and "A." I have no idea why this question seems to allude me (and apparently didn't the first time I took this test!) but I finally understand. Thanks!

danielznelson

I think it took some more specificity on my part in terms of understanding the flaw. It's easy to catch, but "E" is tough to eliminate when I'm not precise enough in identifying the flaw. This is a great question, for sure.