Quantifiers

[Seeker]

How should I read "Students of the this school are disciplined."?

"All students of this school are disciplined." OR "Some students of this school are disciplined."

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi Seeker,

That's going to depend a bit on the context. It could mean all. It could mean some. We can judge based on the context. Typically though, a statement like this could be read as "all," or as a conditional: student at this school disciplined.

Good news though! The LSAT writers will give you context. You can judge quantifiers based on the other information in the stimulus. Or, if it's vague, you might not need to know if it's all or some. If it's important to the argument, they'll give you the information you need.

Hope that helps!

[Seeker]

Hi Rachael,

Thanks for the response!

viewtopic.php?t=6388

In the explanation of the above question, argument in answer choice (A) is said to be valid. Does the inclusion of "The" before "students" make it logically equivalent to "All students"? Or, do you think we have the context to treat it as "All students"?

Thanks

[Ryan Twomey]

Hey Seeker,

That is a great example.

So the stimulus in the question is flawed because it says the student body as a whole takes a wide range of courses, like when all the students are pooled together, they take a wide range of courses. So when the conclusion says Miriam, a student, takes a wide range of courses, that is an invalid conclusion, because the argument went from the whole of the student body to a specific student in an invalid way. The premise implied that the whole of the student body takes a wide range of courses, not that every student takes a wide range of courses. We want a correct answer choice that makes that same whole to parts error.

Now answer choi toce A, says the students at this school take mathematics, therefore Miguel who is a student takes mathematics. This is a much more valid argument; the premise seems to be implying every student takes mathematics. There is no exact rule here that makes this the case, you just have to think about it in a logical way and try and discern what the testmakers are implying.

Whereas answer choice B is making a more similar logical error to the stimulus. Answer choice B essentially says the editorial board writes on a wide array of issues therefore Louise, who is on the editorial board, writes on a wide array of issues. This is also a flawed whole to parts argument so that is why it is correct. The premise said the editorial board as a whole writes on a wide range of issues, that does not mean that every member writes on a wide range of issues.

I hope my explanation helps. To answer your specific question:
"Does the inclusion of "The" before "students" make it logically equivalent to "All students"?
The before students is irrelevant. There's not a specific rule you can apply here and then extrapolate, sadly.

Best,
Ryan

[Seeker]

Thanks Ryan for a detailed response!