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- Tue Feb 07, 2017 4:48 pm
#32548
Complete Question Explanation
Strengthen—SN, CE. The correct answer choice is (D)
This question is perhaps the most difficult of the section. It combines causal reasoning with wordy conditional terms to create confusion and bog us down. However, by focusing on the nature of causal reasoning on the LSAT, we can cut through the clutter and focus on the heart of what is, in reality, a simple argument.
The stimulus begins with a conditional rule that has a causal relationship as its necessary condition. The sufficient condition of the relationship is the presence of “anyone believing that no individual can have an effect on society’s future.” The necessary condition is that such a belief will cause the person to “feel too helpless to act to change society for the better.” We can diagram this relationship as:
belief = belief that no individual can have an effect on society’s future
act = feel too helpless to act to change society for the better
Sufficient Necessary
Cause Effect
belief 
belief act
While this relationship appears daunting, consider for a moment the way LSAC uses causal reasoning generally. We know that causality is taken to the extreme on the LSAT, with the assumption that if a cause is present, it will always produce a given effect, and that whenever we see that effect, we know what caused it. The premise diagrammed above is simply an explicit expression of the same distorted version of causality we see every time we come across a causal conclusion. It just so happens that, in this stimulus, the extreme causal relationship is made express, and is part of a premise rather than the conclusion. So, the best way to think about this premise, despite the explicit conditional indicators, is as a traditional causal relationship:
Cause Effect
belief act
The premise described above is the only support offered for the conclusion that if you want to improve society, you “should reject the belief that its future will be determined entirely by vast historical forces that individuals are powerless to change.” While the description of the belief in the conclusion is a bit different than the wording of the belief in the premise, they are related. The belief in the conclusion is a more specific belief than was in the premise, that the reason no individual can have an effect on society’s future is that the “future will be determined entirely by vast historical forces that individuals are powerless to change.” Using the same belief term from the premise, but including this difference regarding the “vast historical forces” as a subscript (VHS), we can diagram this relationship as:
IS = want to improve society
Sufficient Necessary
IS beliefVHS
This conclusion, by including the word “should,” implies the application of a principle to the premise. And, by viewing the premise as the causal relationship described above, we can see where the conclusion is coming from. If having such a belief prevents you from acting to change society for the better, then if you want to improve society, you have to reject that belief.
The question stem tells us that this is a Strengthen—Principle question. Our prephrase is that the correct answer choice will provide a principle that restates the reasoning from the paragraph immediately above: if you want to improve society, you have to reject the belief described in the premise and restated in the conclusion.
Answer choice (A): This answer choice is incorrect because it applies to a different situation, in which a person believes that individuals can have an effect on society’s future.
Answer choice (B): This answer choice begins improperly by using the rejection of the belief (belief) as the sufficient condition, rather than as the necessary condition. Also, a principle that could connect to the conclusion would involve a person who wants to improve society, a piece that is missing from this answer choice.
Answer choice (C): As with answer choice (B), to connect to the stimulus, the answer choice must have as the sufficient condition that the person wants to improve society.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. Although worded in a way that is meant to be confusing, this answer choices provides a conditional rule that connects the premise to the conclusion. Restated for clarity, this answer choice says that if a person wants to improve society, then that person should not accept (i.e., should reject) any belief that makes him or her feel too helpless to act to change society for the better. We can diagram this relationship as:
IS belief
The conclusion then applies this principle to the specific situation in which belief relates to the influence of “vast historical forces.”
Answer choice (E): Again, as with answer choices (B) and (C), the correct answer choice must have as the sufficient condition a person wanting to improve society. Here, the sufficient condition involves people feeling powerless in the face of vast historical forces.
Strengthen—SN, CE. The correct answer choice is (D)
This question is perhaps the most difficult of the section. It combines causal reasoning with wordy conditional terms to create confusion and bog us down. However, by focusing on the nature of causal reasoning on the LSAT, we can cut through the clutter and focus on the heart of what is, in reality, a simple argument.
The stimulus begins with a conditional rule that has a causal relationship as its necessary condition. The sufficient condition of the relationship is the presence of “anyone believing that no individual can have an effect on society’s future.” The necessary condition is that such a belief will cause the person to “feel too helpless to act to change society for the better.” We can diagram this relationship as:
belief = belief that no individual can have an effect on society’s future
act = feel too helpless to act to change society for the better
Sufficient Necessary Cause Effect belief belief actWhile this relationship appears daunting, consider for a moment the way LSAC uses causal reasoning generally. We know that causality is taken to the extreme on the LSAT, with the assumption that if a cause is present, it will always produce a given effect, and that whenever we see that effect, we know what caused it. The premise diagrammed above is simply an explicit expression of the same distorted version of causality we see every time we come across a causal conclusion. It just so happens that, in this stimulus, the extreme causal relationship is made express, and is part of a premise rather than the conclusion. So, the best way to think about this premise, despite the explicit conditional indicators, is as a traditional causal relationship:
Cause Effect belief actThe premise described above is the only support offered for the conclusion that if you want to improve society, you “should reject the belief that its future will be determined entirely by vast historical forces that individuals are powerless to change.” While the description of the belief in the conclusion is a bit different than the wording of the belief in the premise, they are related. The belief in the conclusion is a more specific belief than was in the premise, that the reason no individual can have an effect on society’s future is that the “future will be determined entirely by vast historical forces that individuals are powerless to change.” Using the same belief term from the premise, but including this difference regarding the “vast historical forces” as a subscript (VHS), we can diagram this relationship as:
IS = want to improve society
Sufficient Necessary IS beliefVHSThis conclusion, by including the word “should,” implies the application of a principle to the premise. And, by viewing the premise as the causal relationship described above, we can see where the conclusion is coming from. If having such a belief prevents you from acting to change society for the better, then if you want to improve society, you have to reject that belief.
The question stem tells us that this is a Strengthen—Principle question. Our prephrase is that the correct answer choice will provide a principle that restates the reasoning from the paragraph immediately above: if you want to improve society, you have to reject the belief described in the premise and restated in the conclusion.
Answer choice (A): This answer choice is incorrect because it applies to a different situation, in which a person believes that individuals can have an effect on society’s future.
Answer choice (B): This answer choice begins improperly by using the rejection of the belief (belief) as the sufficient condition, rather than as the necessary condition. Also, a principle that could connect to the conclusion would involve a person who wants to improve society, a piece that is missing from this answer choice.
Answer choice (C): As with answer choice (B), to connect to the stimulus, the answer choice must have as the sufficient condition that the person wants to improve society.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. Although worded in a way that is meant to be confusing, this answer choices provides a conditional rule that connects the premise to the conclusion. Restated for clarity, this answer choice says that if a person wants to improve society, then that person should not accept (i.e., should reject) any belief that makes him or her feel too helpless to act to change society for the better. We can diagram this relationship as:
IS beliefThe conclusion then applies this principle to the specific situation in which belief relates to the influence of “vast historical forces.”
Answer choice (E): Again, as with answer choices (B) and (C), the correct answer choice must have as the sufficient condition a person wanting to improve society. Here, the sufficient condition involves people feeling powerless in the face of vast historical forces.
