LSAT 110 – Section 3 – Question 10

LSAT 110 - Section 3 - Question 10

June 2001

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT110 S3 Q10
+LR
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Link Assumption +LinkA
A
91%
167
B
0%
149
C
3%
159
D
5%
157
E
1%
157
139
147
154
 +Medium 145.976 +SubsectionMedium

Philosopher: People are not intellectually well suited to live in large, bureaucratic societies. Therefore, people can find happiness, if at all, only in smaller political units such as villages.

Summarize Argument

The philosopher concludes that, if people can find happiness at all, they can only do so in smaller communities, like villages. She supports this by saying that people aren’t intellectually well suited to live in large, bureaucratic societies.

Identify and Describe Flaw

The philosopher’s reasoning is flawed because she makes a key assumption. By concluding that people can only find happiness in small communities because they aren’t intellectually well suited to large ones, the philosopher must assume that people cannot find happiness in a society that they aren’t intellectually well suited to.

She ignores the fact that some people might be able to find happiness in large bureaucratic societies, even though they’re not intellectually well suited to them.

A
no one can ever be happy living in a society in which she or he is not intellectually well suited to live

In order to draw her conclusion, the philosopher takes for granted that people cannot be happy in a society that they aren’t intellectually well suited to. But what if some people can be happy in large, bureaucratic societies, even though they’re not well suited to live there?

B
the primary purpose of small political units such as villages is to make people happy

The author never makes this claim, nor does she take it for granted. She says that “people can find happiness, if at all, only in smaller political units.” She never claims that these communities’ purpose is to make people happy, or even that they will make people happy at all.

C
all societies that are plagued by excessive bureaucracy are large

The author never makes this claim, nor does she take it for granted. She just says that people aren’t well suited to live in large, bureaucratic societies. Maybe small bureaucratic societies exist, or maybe they don’t; it doesn’t affect the argument either way.

D
anyone who lives in a village or other small political unit that is not excessively bureaucratic can find happiness

The author doesn't make this assumption. She says that “people can find happiness, if at all, only in smaller political units.” She never assumes that people in small political units actually can or will find happiness.

E
everyone is willing to live in villages or other small political units

The author doesn’t make this assumption. Her argument isn’t addressing where people may or may not be willing to live. It’s just addressing where people must live in order to potentially find happiness.

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LSAT PrepTest 110 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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