LSAT 113 – Section 4 – Question 20

LSAT 113 - Section 4 - Question 20

June 2002

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT113 S4 Q20
+LR
Sufficient assumption +SA
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
Link Assumption +LinkA
A
50%
162
B
27%
156
C
1%
153
D
2%
152
E
20%
158
149
160
171
 +Hardest 145.144 +SubsectionEasier

The desire for praise is the desire to obtain, as a sign that one is good, the favorable opinions of others. But because people merit praise only for those actions motivated by a desire to help others, it follows that one who aids others primarily out of a desire for praise does not deserve praise for that aid.

Summary
The author concludes that people who help others mainly out of a desire for praise do not deserve praise for that help. This is based on the following:
The desire for praise is the desire to obtain the favorable opinions of others.
If someone deserves praise for an action (”merit” = “deserve”), that action must be motivated by a desire to help others.

Missing Connection
We’re trying to prove that people who help others mainly out of a desire for praise don’t deserve praise for that help. We know from the second premise that in order to deserve praise, the action must be motivated by a desire to help others. So if we can show that people who help others mainly out of a desire for praise are NOT motivated by a desire to help others, that would prove our conclusion.

A
An action that is motivated by a desire for the favorable opinion of others cannot also be motivated by a desire to help others.
The first premise establishes that the desire for praise is the desire to obtain the favorable opinions of others. (A) would establish that helping others mainly out of the desire for praise constitutes an action that is NOT motivated by a desire to help others. This then would connect with the second premise, which takes us to “not deserve praise.”
B
No action is worthy of praise if it is motivated solely by a desire for praise.
The conclusion concerns people who help others “primarily” out of a desire for praise. (B), which tells us that actions motivated “solely” by praise don’t deserve praise, doesn’t cover actions that are done “primarily” out of desire for praise.
C
People who are indifferent to the welfare of others do not deserve praise.
We don’t know that people who help others primarily out of a desire for praise are indifferent to the welfare of others. Maybe they do care about others...it’s just that their action is mainly about getting praise.
D
One deserves praise for advancing one’s own interests only if one also advances the interests of others.
It’s not clear that one who helps others out of a desire for praise is actually advancing their own interests. It’s also not clear that helping others out of a desire for praise wouldn’t advance the interests of others. So (D) doesn’t connect to any of the premises of this argument.
E
It is the motives rather than the consequences of one’s actions that determine whether one deserves praise for them.
(E) establishes that motives determine whether one deserve praise. But (E) allows for actions out of selfish motives, such as desire for praise, to still deserve praise. (E) doesn’t tell us what kind of motive would make an action undeserving of praise.

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LSAT PrepTest 113 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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