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General questions relating to LSAT Logical Reasoning.
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 victorpaz0
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#96379
The LR Bible states in chapter two that, “Thus, the counter-premise is not integral to the author’s argument structure.” It then goes on to give a list of counter-premises in which the word “but” is listed first.

However, in test 52, section 1, question 1, the word but is followed by the conclusion of the argument:

Certain companies require their managers to rank workers in the groups they supervise from best to worst, giving each worker a unique ranking based on job performance. The top 10 percent of the workers in each group are rewarded and the bottom 10 percent are penalized or fired. But this system is unfair to workers. Good workers could receive low rankings merely because they belong to groups of exceptionally good workers. Furthermore, managers often give the highest rankings to workers who share the manager’s interests outside of work.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the conclusion drawn in the argument?

Thus, shouldn’t “But” be better seen as a conclusion indicator rather than a counter-premise?
 Jon Denning
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#96538
victorpaz0 wrote: Tue Jul 26, 2022 8:44 pm The LR Bible states in chapter two that, “Thus, the counter-premise is not integral to the author’s argument structure.” It then goes on to give a list of counter-premises in which the word “but” is listed first.

However, in test 52, section 1, question 1, the word but is followed by the conclusion of the argument:

Certain companies require their managers to rank workers in the groups they supervise from best to worst, giving each worker a unique ranking based on job performance. The top 10 percent of the workers in each group are rewarded and the bottom 10 percent are penalized or fired. But this system is unfair to workers. Good workers could receive low rankings merely because they belong to groups of exceptionally good workers. Furthermore, managers often give the highest rankings to workers who share the manager’s interests outside of work.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the conclusion drawn in the argument?

Thus, shouldn’t “But” be better seen as a conclusion indicator rather than a counter-premise?
Hi victorpaz0 - thanks for the question, and welcome to the Forum!

You ask a great (and common) question, so I'm excited to explore it further! In fact, your question really goes to the heart of language usage on this test, and the difference between static vs contextual interpretations of syntax and indicator words themselves.

What I mean is that context is always king: some words tend to produce concrete and predictable results, like "only" introducing a necessary condition, but most must be considered in terms of how the author is using them on a case-by-case basis. Take a word like "hence," which we know is used to introduce a conclusionary idea/belief—a notion the author believes follows from some form of evidence—but whether the "hence" portion is the author's main conclusion or merely a subsidiary or intermediate conclusion hinges entirely on the larger body of text containing it.

Another that comes to mind is the word "should," as in "people should be kind to one another." "Should" suggests a belief, rather than a statement of objective fact ("people are kind," say), and generally that means it appears in conclusions instead of premises. But not always! You could use "people should be kind to one another" as a conclusion on the one hand—if it is thought to follow from facts/premises like "altruism is necessary for a society to function"—or as a premise on the other: "People should be kind to one another, therefore Mary was justified in sharing her lunch with a hungry stranger" (or whatever).

And "but" is no different! It's all about context. So one stimulus might see an author use "but" to introduce a conclusion, as in the example you provide, while the next uses it to introduce a problematic claim or idea the author is seeking to address and discount. For instance, "Crime in this city is clearly on the decline, but some citizens dispute this trend citing increased arrest rates for petty theft. Those rates fail to take into account that the massive crackdown on armed robbery has led to both a small uptick in non-violent street crime like purse snatching along with a reduction in crime rates overall." Note how "but" in the first sentence introduces an objection (a counter-premise) that the author then goes on to refute.

In short, the only real universal role that "but" (along with words like "however," "yet," "although," "despite," and the like) plays is to set up some degree of contradiction or discrepancy. Whether the "but" portion is something the author agrees or disagrees with is what dictates conclusion vs counter-premise :)

I hope that helps!

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