Claims

[rwitt09]

I’m getting confused about the word “claims” in the answer choices. Sometimes it seems as if the word “claims” is describing a premise, while other times it seems as if it is describing the conclusion. I think it means it’s the conclusion of the argument, but some answer choices throw me off. Could anyone explain what “claims” means on the LSAT?

[Luke Haqq]

Hi rwitt09!

I'd be happy to suggest what "claims" might possibly mean. In short, it depends on the context, and it's not clear that the word is more likely to refer to either premises or a conclusion.

For example, a stimulus could be about the author's view of a recently published study. The premises are that the study shows A and B, and the conclusion is, "I therefore claim XYZ about the study." In this context, the word claim is in the conclusion.

But if I describe it differently, we could say that the premises are that the study "claims" A and "claims" B. In this context the word occurs in the premises. Or we could put them together and have the word in both the premises and conclusion.

In those examples, "claims" is operating as a verb. It can also function as a noun--e.g., "These claims are hard to assess." That phrasing sounds like a conclusion, but it can also be a noun in a premise--e.g., "The study's findings include claims that ABC." In sum, that word on its own probably isn't a reliable indicator as to whether one is dealing with a premise or a conclusion.