Logical Reasoning

PT153 · S2 · Q9 Ellen: A group of economists and ecologists

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Ellen: A group of economists and ecologists recently estimated the economic value of Earthʼs biosphereʼs “essential services,” such as climate regulation, food, and water supplies, at $33 trillion annually.

Ellen's Claims

1. A group of economists and ecologists recently estimated the economic value of Earth's biosphere's "essential services" (climate regulation, food, water supplies, etc.) at $33 trillion.

2. We should make protection of the biosphere a high priority

3. (assumption) We should make protection of the biosphere a high priority because its economic value is around $33 trillion annually.

Santiago's Responses

1. He's not saying that it's untrue that a group of economists valued Earth's biosphere as $33 trillion. He's saying he doesn't support them doing so in an effort to justify protecting Earth.

2. No direct comment. Santiago isn't saying we shouldn't make protecting the biosphere a high priority. He seems like he might want to make protecting it a high priority for non-financial reasons (maybe for moral reasons).

3. Disagrees. Santiago goes against Ellen's sentiment that "We should therefore make protection a high priority". She was saying that the $33 trillion annual value therefore justifies making protection a high priority. Santiago is saying

Evaluate

Ellen really only makes two claims, and the first one is just reporting factually on what a group of economists and ecologists recently did.

So we'd have every reason to zoom in on Ellen's second sentence. Santiago disagrees with that sentence, but not because he disagrees with her Conclusion (he might also agree that we should make protecting the biosphere a high priority).

LSAT loves to test the nuance that you can agree with someone's Conclusion while disagreeing with their rationale for arriving at that conclusion. I might agree with your conclusion that "Lebron is better than Jordan", but not agree with your explanation of why ("because Lebron is better at defense").

Goal

Let's look for something like .

On the basis of their dialogue, it can most reasonably be concluded that Ellen and Santiago disagree over the truth of which one of the following statements?

Correct
Estimating the dollar value of
Why this is right
We can support that Ellen AGREES with this, since she talks about the estimated dollar value of the biosphere's essential services and then moves from that estimate to the idea that "we should therefore make protection of the biosphere a high priority". Since her rationale for protecting the biosphere is its estimated dollar value, she implicitly considers that an appropriate rationale. We can support that Santiago DISAGREES with this; we can support that he thinks that estimating the dollar value of the biosphere is not an appropriate rationale. After all, he says he's "uncomfortable with the idea of calculating the biosphere's dollar value in order to justify protecting it".
Skill tested: Agree/Disagree · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
85% picked this
The biosphere?s most important value
Unsupported Disagree Position
We can support that Santiago would AGREE with this, because his 2nd sentence is implying that the biosphere's most important value is not the services it provides us. But the DISAGREE position is that "The biosphere's most important value is the services it provides to human beings". Can we derive that extreme claim from Ellen's paragraph? No. She doesn't use any language like "most important value". She's only saying, "Damn, $33 trillion is a lot. We should make protecting this biosphere a high priority". She clearly thinks that the services the biosphere provide us with have enough value that they merit making protection a high priority. But we can't derive any opinion about about what Ellen thinks is the biosphere's most important value, nor could we limit it to "serving humankind". Ellen may think that "the services the biosphere provides to all life forms is its most important value".
4% picked this
Calculating the dollar value of
Out of Scope: most effective
We can't support the AGREE or DISAGREE position on this answer, because neither author uses the extreme term "most effective" way to protect. Santiago is uncomfortable with Ellen's way of justifying efforts to protect the biosphere. He isn't objecting to the potential ineffectiveness of her way; he's objecting more to its symbolic implications.
2% picked this
The idea that the dollar
Unsupported Agree Position
Ellen implicitly DISAGREES with this. She bases a conclusion off an estimate of the biosphere's dollar value, so she takes that estimate somewhat seriously. Thus, she'd probably say "it's realistic to estimate, at least, the dollar value of the biosphere's essential services". But we wouldn't be able to derive the AGREE position from Santiago. He isn't saying it's unrealistic to calculate a dollar value for the biosphere. He's just saying it's gross and sends the wrong message that the biosphere is just an economic resource here to serve us.
1% picked this
Calculating the dollar value of
Unsupported Disagree Position
We know that Santiago would AGREE, because this answer essentially matches his 2nd sentence. But we can't support the DISAGREE position from Ellen's paragraph. She isn't saying anything that sounds like, "Calculating the dollar value of the biosphere's essential services does not imply that the biosphere's most important value is X". She's never talking about the biosphere's "most important value".
8% picked this

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