A premise and a conclusion are the bare minimum constitutive elements of an argument.

What do these words "premise" and "conclusion" mean?

A premise is a claim which supports another claim.

Okay... what is this “another claim”?

It's the conclusion! The definition of conclusion is a claim which is supported by another claim. What’s the “another claim” here? That would be the premise of course!

So you see, the premise is the claim that gives support, and the conclusion is the claim that receives support. Think of the premise as the pitcher. The conclusion is the catcher. The ball is support. The premise is throwing support to the conclusion.

On the test, there are many different types of arguments, each with its own kind of support structure. In the coming lessons, we’ll see some examples of arguments and play with the idea of “support.” For now, just remember that all the questions on the LSAT are trying to test your ability to handle the relationship of support.

Do you really know what it means for something to support something else?

See full diagram.

LET’S REVIEW

Support is the central idea on the LSAT. An argument is, at minimum, a claim that supports another claim. The claim that gives the support is called the premise. The claim that receives the support is called the conclusion.