Logical Reasoning

PT101 · S2 · Q25 The publisher of a best-selling

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

  • Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one

  • Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step

  • 81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Start practicing free

The publisher of a best-selling self-help book had, in some promotional material, claimed that it showed readers how to become exceptionally successful.

Conclusion (Thus)

The fact that the publisher knowingly made a false claim should not be considered unethical in this case.

Evidence

The publisher claimed that the book would "show readers how to become exceptionally successful", but everyone knows that no book can deliver that promise (which is inherently contradictory since only a few people can be exceptional).

Evaluate / Goal

It sounds like the author is thinking,

25.

Which one of the following principles, if valid, most strongly supports the reasoning above?

  1. Correct

    Knowingly making a false claim

    Why this is right

    Only if = right side idea, so this conditional looks like this Knowingly making it's reasonable false claim X ? for people to is unethical accept X as true We always want our conclusions on the right side of the arrow, so if we contrapose this, we'll get that: if it's not reasonable knowingly for people to accept ? claiming X claim X as true not unethical Is the trigger applicable to our situation? Yes! It's not reasonable for people to accept the claim that "this book will show readers how to be exceptionally successful" because everyone knows that no book can deliver that promise. The trigger applies to our situation, and the outcome matches our conclusion. What more could a girl hope for?

    Skill tested: Principle-Strengthen · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    69% picked this

  2. Knowingly making a false claim

    Bad Conclusion Match

    If = left side idea, so this conditional looks like this those falsely claiming X knowingly derive a gain at the ? claiming X expense of those is unethical acting like X is true The trigger is actually irrelevant to us. As soon as we see that the outcome is the opposite of our conclusion, we know that this rule is useless to us.

    5% picked this

  3. Knowingly making a false claim

    Bad Trigger Match

    Only = right side idea, so just like (A), we would contrapose so that the outcome of the conditional looks like the conclusion. if those accepting X knowingly as true suffer a hardship ? making false greater than the gain claim X is they were anticipating not unethical The outcome matches our conclusion. Is the trigger applicable to our situation? Were we told that people who bought this book while believing it really would show them how to be exceptionally successful will suffer a hardship greater than the gain they were anticipating? We were not. And it seems unlikely that the trigger would apply to these book buyers. After all, the gain they were anticipating (if they believed the hype) is exceptional success. That's a huge gain! Is the hardship they suffer from finding out the book is not life-changing greater than that? Is it a huge, life-changing hardship? No, it's just a waste of $20.

    5% picked this

  4. Knowingly making a false claim

    Bad Trigger Match

    Only if = right side idea, so just like (A) and (C), we would contrapose so that the outcome of the conditional looks like the conclusion. there is no possibility knowingly that someone will act ? making false as if the claim claim X is might be true not unethical The outcome matches our conclusion. Is the trigger applicable to our situation? Were we told that there is no possibility that someone will act as if this book really will show them how to become exceptionally successful? No, we weren't. All we know is that everyone should know that this is a false claim. We can better establish the trigger of (A), because that's just saying "it would be unreasonable for someone to act like this claim is true". We can't establish that "nobody will act like this claim is true", since humans are famous for acting irrationally or unreasonably some of the time.

    16% picked this

  5. Knowingly making a false claim

    Bad Conclusion Match

    Like (B), this is a rule that would allow us to prove, in certain cases, that knowingly making a false claim is unethical. It has no power to prove in any cases that knowingly making a false claim isn't unethical.

    5% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill
LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free