LSAT 133 – Section 1 – Question 25

LSAT 133 - Section 1 - Question 25

June 2011

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT133 S1 Q25
+LR
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
A
77%
165
B
9%
159
C
8%
159
D
3%
155
E
3%
157
142
152
162
 +Medium 146.357 +SubsectionMedium

Counselor: Those who believe that criticism should be gentle rather than harsh should consider the following: change requires a motive, and criticism that is unpleasant provides a motive. Since harsh criticism is unpleasant, harsh criticism provides a motive. Therefore, only harsh criticism will cause the person criticized to change.

Summarize Argument
The counselor argues that harsh criticism is necessary to cause someone to change. Why? Firstly, a motive is necessary to cause someone to change. Secondly, unpleasant criticism provides a motive to change, and harsh criticism is unpleasant. This leads to the sub-conclusion that harsh criticism provides a motive to change.

Identify and Describe Flaw
This is a cookie-cutter flaw: confusing necessary and sufficient conditions. The counselor’s premises establish that harsh criticism is sufficient to motivate a change. However, the counselor concludes from this that harsh criticism is necessary for change. The incorrect inference here is that harsh criticism is necessary for motivation (with motivation being necessary for change).

A
infers that something that is sufficient to provide a motive is necessary to provide a motive
The counselor establishes that harsh criticism is sufficient for motivation, but concludes that harsh criticism is necessary for change. We know that motivation is necessary for change, so the conclusion only works by inferring that harsh criticism is necessary for motivation.
B
fails to address the possibility that in some cases the primary goal of criticism is something other than bringing about change in the person being criticized
The counselor isn’t concerned with criticism that has a goal other than bringing about change. The argument only concerns the relationship between types of criticism and change.
C
takes for granted that everyone who is motivated to change will change
The counselor doesn’t claim that motivation is a sufficient condition for change, only a necessary condition.
D
confuses a motive for doing something with a motive for avoiding something
The counselor never brings up or relies on the idea of a motive for avoiding something.
E
takes the refutation of an argument to be sufficient to show that the argument’s conclusion is false
The counselor never considers another argument which has been refuted, and certainly doesn’t claim that the conclusion of a refuted argument is false.

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LSAT PrepTest 133 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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