LSAT 131 – Section 3 – Question 22

LSAT 131 - Section 3 - Question 22

December 2009

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT131 S3 Q22
+LR
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
Rule-Application +RuleApp
Link Assumption +LinkA
A
5%
159
B
17%
162
C
5%
160
D
70%
166
E
3%
158
140
154
168
 +Harder 146.026 +SubsectionMedium

Since anyone who makes an agreement has an obligation to fulfill the terms of that agreement, it follows that anyone who is obligated to perform an action has agreed to perform that action. Hence, saying that one has a legal obligation to perform a given action is the same as saying that one is required to fulfill one’s agreement to perform that action.

Summarize Argument
The argument concludes that having a legal obligation to perform a certain action is the same as having agreed to perform that action. Why? Because agreeing to perform an action obligates someone to perform that action. From this, the argument draws the sub-conclusion that being obligated to perform an action must mean that one has agreed to perform that action.

Identify and Describe Flaw
The argument has a cookie-cutter flaw: confusing sufficient and necessary conditions. Just because an agreement to perform an action is sufficient to create an obligation to perform that action, that doesn’t mean an agreement has necessarily been made for every obligation. There might be other ways an obligation is formed.
The argument also baselessly treats “legal obligations” and “obligations” as equivalent by saying that they are “the same.”

A
The argument fails to make a crucial distinction between an action one is legally obligated to perform and an action with good consequences, and it takes for granted that everything true of legal obligations is true of obligations generally.
The argument doesn’t deal with actions with good consequences at all, so it isn’t a flaw to not distinguish them from legally obligated actions.
B
The argument takes for granted that there are obligations other than those resulting from agreements made, and it fails to consider the possibility that actions that uphold agreements made are sometimes performed for reasons other than to uphold those agreements.
The argument doesn’t take for granted that there are obligations that don’t result from agreements, or even consider that possibility. It’s also irrelevant to the argument why people make actions that uphold agreements.
C
The argument contains a premise that is logically equivalent to its conclusion, and it takes for granted that there are only certain actions that one should agree to perform.
The argument’s premise is not equivalent to its conclusion, and it doesn’t make any claims about what kinds of actions one should or shouldn’t agree to perform.
D
The argument treats a condition that is sufficient to make something an obligation as also a requirement for something to be an obligation, and it takes for granted that any obligation to perform an action is a legal obligation.
The argument treats a sufficient condition for an obligation—agreeing to perform an action—as a necessary condition, without considering that obligations can come from other sources. It also claims that legal obligations are “the same” as any other obligation to act.
E
The argument rests on an ambiguous use of the term “action,” and it fails to consider the possibility that people are sometimes unwilling to perform actions that they have agreed to perform.
The argument uses the term “action” consistently. It also doesn’t make any claims about people’s willingness to perform actions they’ve agreed to, only about their obligation to do so.

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LSAT PrepTest 131 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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