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- Mon May 02, 2016 10:55 am
#23735
Complete Question Explanation
Main Point. The correct answer choice is (E)
The stimulus begins by proposing that most people are angered at the suggestion that they do not well know their real wants, which rhetorically indicates that the conclusion of the argument is that most people do not know their real wants. The argument proceeds to assert that such self-knowledge requires a degree of effort that most people choose to avoid by accepting others' judgments about what people should want, affirming that the conclusion is that most people do not know their real wants.
You are asked to identify the main point of the argument.
Answer choice (A): The fact that acquiring self-knowledge can be risky is a premise, not the conclusion, so this choice is wrong.
Answer choice (B): It may be true, given the stimulus, that people do not find self-knowledge as desirable as it is usually thought to be; however, the ultimate conclusion needs to be that people do not have self-knowledge, and this incorrect choice does not reach that ultimate point.
Answer choice (C): The argument in no way asserts that people cannot find and reflect their real wants, only that they generally do not do so because it is an inconvenience. This choice is wrong.
Answer choice (D): The fact that people avoid difficult decisions is probably an implicit premise of the argument, but it is not the main point, so this choice is wrong.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. The conclusion that most people are not good authorities on what they really want is watered down in this choice to the idea that people are not necessarily expert on their real wants. That actually makes the response better because the rhetorical reading of the stimulus utilized a polar rather than a logical negation, but the correct choices on the LSAT follow more logically than rhetorically.
Main Point. The correct answer choice is (E)
The stimulus begins by proposing that most people are angered at the suggestion that they do not well know their real wants, which rhetorically indicates that the conclusion of the argument is that most people do not know their real wants. The argument proceeds to assert that such self-knowledge requires a degree of effort that most people choose to avoid by accepting others' judgments about what people should want, affirming that the conclusion is that most people do not know their real wants.
You are asked to identify the main point of the argument.
Answer choice (A): The fact that acquiring self-knowledge can be risky is a premise, not the conclusion, so this choice is wrong.
Answer choice (B): It may be true, given the stimulus, that people do not find self-knowledge as desirable as it is usually thought to be; however, the ultimate conclusion needs to be that people do not have self-knowledge, and this incorrect choice does not reach that ultimate point.
Answer choice (C): The argument in no way asserts that people cannot find and reflect their real wants, only that they generally do not do so because it is an inconvenience. This choice is wrong.
Answer choice (D): The fact that people avoid difficult decisions is probably an implicit premise of the argument, but it is not the main point, so this choice is wrong.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. The conclusion that most people are not good authorities on what they really want is watered down in this choice to the idea that people are not necessarily expert on their real wants. That actually makes the response better because the rhetorical reading of the stimulus utilized a polar rather than a logical negation, but the correct choices on the LSAT follow more logically than rhetorically.