PrepTest 109, Section 4, Question 21
Terry: Some actions considered to be bad by(81 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(14 more words not shown)
- Apresupposing that if(27 more words not shown)
- Bpresupposing that if(19 more words not shown)
- Cpresupposing that if(28 more words not shown)
- Dpresupposing that if(28 more words not shown)
- Epresupposing that if(28 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Having a favorable consequence doesn't automatically make an action good. Terry tells us that good actions need favorable consequences, then treats meeting that requirement as enough to establish goodness.
Think of a harmful action that also produces one useful result. That useful result wouldn't necessarily excuse the harm. We don't need to settle a controversial moral example to see the gap: “You need this to qualify” doesn't mean “Having this guarantees you qualify.” Terry has shown that some actions society considers bad meet a requirement for being good, not that they actually are good.
Pat agrees with the conclusion but changes the reasons. Keep the categories separate: an action being good isn't the same as society considering it good or bad. Pat tells us that some good actions lack favorable consequences. Pat also says that all actions society considers bad lack favorable consequences. Those statements give two groups a shared feature. Do they establish that the groups overlap? No. The good actions without favorable consequences could be different from the actions society condemns.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for an error both speakers make. Terry's mistake gives us a clear starting point: treating a requirement as a guarantee. We should then check how that description fits Pat rather than stopping after finding a match for Terry.
Working the answers
- A
Neither speaker's mistake involves counting how many properties distinguish types of action. Terry treats favorable consequences as enough for goodness. Pat treats a lack of favorable consequences as enough for society to consider an action bad. The problem is what the property establishes, not whether it is one of several distinguishing properties.
- B
Neither argument moves from “most” to “all.” Terry's claim about some socially condemned actions stays a claim about some such actions in the conclusion. Pat also reaches a conclusion about some actions. This answer describes a change in quantity that doesn't explain either error.
- C
Both speakers discuss our society. Neither moves from what happens in this society to what happens in every society. Introducing other societies changes the issue entirely.
- DCorrect
For Terry, favorable consequences are required for an action to be good. Terry finds that feature in some actions society condemns and concludes that those actions are good. The requirement has been treated as a guarantee.
For Pat, lacking favorable consequences is required for an action to be considered bad by society: Pat says no socially condemned action has favorable consequences. Pat then finds that same lack in some good actions and treats it as enough to place those good actions among the socially condemned ones. That step doesn't follow.
The property changes between speakers. Terry uses having favorable consequences; Pat uses lacking favorable consequences. But both wrongly treat meeting a requirement for membership in a group as enough to establish membership.
- E
A shared feature doesn't establish that it is the only feature distinguishing these groups from every other kind of action. Neither speaker argues about an exhaustive list of distinguishing properties. Pat's groups sharing a feature matters because Pat assumes overlap from that feature, not because Pat explicitly rules out all other differences.
More Flaw questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Flaw questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.