Can causality indicators also be conditional reasoning indic

[maybe]

Hello, I’m a big fan of the power score books, but there is one thing that I simply do not understand.
Can the statement “X (causes, produces effect, leads to, etc.) Y” be converted to “X ->Y” and be used in a conditional logic chain in the LR section?
For example in your book (sorry I forget the pg number) you state:
‘Vague laws set vague limits on people’s freedom, which makes it impossible for them to know for certain whether their actions are legal.’

Then you draw the following conditional statement chain: Vague laws -> Vague limits -> cannot know actions are legal

These sentences don’t have the typical N/S conditional indicators, and it seems like there is a causal relationship between the elements.

Thanks for your help!

[Adam Tyson]

Hi Maybe. Good question!

While it is true that causal statements can be converted into conditional arguments (because, after all, IF the cause happens THEN the effect must happen), it's not usually very helpful to do so. That's because casual reasoning is so much easier to deal with than conditional reasoning most of the time.

Causal arguments are inherently flawed, because the author fails to consider an alternate cause, or that the two might be reversed, etc. For that reason, causal arguments are easy to weaken, to strengthen, to identify the flaw, etc. With conditional reasoning you have less to work with - you can identify a mistaken reversal or mistaken negation, or weaken by showing that when the sufficient happens the necessary doesn't have to happen, and that's about it (along with the must be true questions dealing with conditional chains, multi-conditionals and contrapositives).

I find that when I come across causal language, as in your example, I would rather work with the standard causal tools than convert it into conditionality and try to work with it in that framework. Review the lesson on causality and weaken questions and see if you don't agree. Causal language is easy, so work with it rather than converting it.

I hope that helps!

Adam M. Tyson
PowerScore LSAT Instructor