LSAT 101 – Section 2 – Question 25

LSAT 101 - Section 2 - Question 25

December 1997

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Question QuickView	Type	Tags	Answer Choices	Curve	Question Difficulty	Psg/Game/S Difficulty	Explanation
PT101 S2 Q25	+LR	Strengthen +Streng Rule-Application +RuleApp Value Judgment +ValJudg Fact v. Belief v. Knowledge +FvBvK	A 71% 169 B 3% 159 C 5% 159 D 17% 166 E 5% 160	151 160 170	+Hardest	150.088 +SubsectionMedium

J.Y.’s explanation

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The publisher of a best-selling self-help book had, in some promotional material, claimed that it showed readers how to become exceptionally successful. Of course, everyone knows that no book can deliver to the many what, by definition, must remain limited to the few: exceptional success. Thus, although it is clear that the publisher knowingly made a false claim, doing so should not be considered unethical in this case.

Summarize Argument

We shouldn’t consider the publisher’s false claim (about promising exceptional results to readers) to be unethical. Why not? Because everyone knows that, by definition, it’s impossible for many people to achieve an “exceptional” result. (If it’s exceptional, it must be rare!)

Notable Assumptions

The author makes two key assumptions:

(1) That the publisher expected the book to be read by many people. (If the publisher didn’t think many people would actually read the book, then it doesn’t matter whether it’s impossible to promise exceptional results to many people.)

(2) That if everyone knows that a claim can’t possibly be true, it’s not unethical to make that false claim.

We’re looking for a principle that strengthens. Principles are often conditional rules, so an answer that supplies assumption (2), or its contrapositive, is a good prediction.

Knowingly making a false claim is unethical only if it is reasonable for people to accept the claim as true.

Everyone knows that the book can’t achieve for many people what the publisher claims it can. So, it’s not very reasonable for people to accept that claim. This triggers the contrapositive of (A), leading to the author’s conclusion: the claim isn’t unethical.

Knowingly making a false claim is unethical if those making it derive a gain at the expense of those acting as if the claim were true.

This tells us when knowingly making a false claim is unethical. But we want to support the conclusion that knowingly making such a claim is not unethical. So (B) can’t help us.

Knowingly making a false claim is unethical in only those cases in which those who accept the claim as true suffer a hardship greater than the gain they were anticipating.

For this to support the conclusion, we’d first need to fail the necessary condition, thus triggering the contrapositive. But the premise is silent on this necessary condition. We don’t know whether anyone suffers hardship.

Knowingly making a false claim is unethical only if there is a possibility that someone will act as if the claim might be true.

For (D) to work, the premise would need to suggest that there’s no chance anyone will act as if the publisher’s promise might be true. This would trigger the contrapositive. But the premise tells us what all people know, not how all people act on that knowledge.

Knowingly making a false claim is unethical in at least those cases in which for someone else to discover that the claim is false, that person must have acted as if the claim were true.

This tells us when knowingly making a false claim is unethical. But we want to support the conclusion that knowingly making such a claim is not unethical. So (E) can’t help us.

LSAT 101 – Section 2 – Question 25

LSAT 101 - Section 2 - Question 25

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J.Y.’s explanation

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LSAT PrepTest 101 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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