Logical Reasoning

PT133 · S2 · Q13 Philosopher: Some of the most

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

Philosopher: Some of the most ardent philosophical opponents of democracy have rightly noted that both the inherently best and the inherently worst possible forms of government are those that concentrate political power in the hands of a few.

Conclusion (thus)

Democracy is a better choice than rule by a few.

Evidence (since)

The inherently best and the inherently worst forms of government are those that concentrate political power in the hands of a few.

Democracy is consistently a mediocre form of government.

Evaluate

The argument chooses one form of rule (democracy) over another (rule by a few) and it provides one detail about each. The argument assumes that a form of rule that is consistently mediocre is preferable to one that could be either the best or the worst.

When the argument involves a positive thing (you won't get the worst) and a negative thing (but you also won't get the best), we generally see a comparative answer that is Weighing Tradeoffs.

13.

Which one of the following principles, if valid, most helps to justify the philosopher's argument?

  1. A society should adopt a

    Bad Trigger Match

    This has the ability to prove "should adopt democracy", so it's worth reading, but the trigger for that would be "most members of society prefer a democratic form of government". We have no idea whether that's true, so we can't trigger this rule based on the evidence.

    1% picked this

  2. Correct

    In choosing a form of

    Why this is right

    This provides the subjective assumption about which of the two forms of rule is better and asserts that averting the worst (i.e., democracy avoids the worst by being consistently mediocre) is better than seeking the best (i.e, opting for rule by a few, since in some cases it results in the best forms of government).

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

    84% picked this

  3. The best form of government

    Bad Trigger Match

    This rule would potentially have the power to prove that "democracy is the best form of government", which could work with our conclusion. But the trigger for the rule is "most likely to produce an outcome that is on the whole good". Do we know that democracy is most likely to produce an outcome that's on the whole good? No. The argument doesn't use any language like "on the whole good". We know democracy is consistently mediocre. Can we say that something mediocre is "on the whole good"? That seems like a stretch. There are other forms of government that can produce better outcomes. And we don't know, when it comes to "rule of the few", whether you're more likely to get an inherently best government or an inherently worse government. We know either outcome is possible, but the stimulus provides no way of gauging which one is more likely. So there's just no way, from the evidence offered, for us to say that democracy is the form of government most likely to produce an outcome that's on the whole good.

    7% picked this

  4. Democratic governments are not truly

    Bad Conclusion Match / Weakens

    This would have the power to prove that "democratic governments are not truly equitable", which if anything would go against our conclusion.

    4% picked this

  5. It is better to choose

    Bad Evidence Match

    In order to use this rule to then choose democracy, we'd need to know that democracy is supported by sound philosophical reasons (whereas other forms are supported by popular preference). The evidence doesn't talk about anything like that, comparing the basis for choosing one form over the other. All we have to go off is "consistently mediocre" vs. "might get the best, might get the worst", so our principle has to make use of those ideas.

    4% 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