Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Medium

PT136 S2 Q19 Explanation

Social scientist: Since the body

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

TopicsSufficient Assumption

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Stimulus

Social scientist: Since the body of thought known as Marxism claims to describe rigorously an inexorable historical movement toward the socialization of the means of production, it should be regarded as a scientific theory. Thus, certain interpreters, in at radically transforming society, have misconstrued it.

What this question is testing

Sufficient Assumption

Your task

Find the assumption that, if added, guarantees the conclusion follows.

Common trap

Answers that only partly bridge the gap, leaving the conclusion unproven.

Winning move

Identify the new term in the conclusion and pick the choice that links it to the evidence.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
19.

The social scientist's conclusion follows logically if which one of the following

Answer choices

  1. Supports a Premise2% picked this

    The description that Marxism gives of certain historical phenomena in the economic sphere is as rigorous as it

    This supports the premise of the argument.

  2. Out of Scope13% picked this

    The aims of science are incompatible with the aims of those who would seek to transform

    The aims of science and those who would seek to transform society by political means are not relevant to the argument.

  3. Reversal / Wrong Trigger5% picked this

    Only bodies of thought consisting purely of rigorous description are

    This reverses an assumption of the intermediate argument. Furthermore, even if the relationship were in the right direction, it still relies on the wrong trigger since the argument does not indicate that Marxism consists purely of rigorous description.

  4. Correct79% picked this

    Scientific theories cannot be correctly interpreted to be, or to imply,

    Why this is right

    This bridges the gap ST ? ~PP between scientific theories and political programs.

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

  5. Out of Scope1% picked this

    The means of production will inevitably become socialized regardless of any political programs designed to

    Whether the means of production will inevitably become socialized is not relevant to whether Marxism is correctly characterized as a political program.

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