Logical Reasoning

PT158 · S2 · Q22 Devan has never bothered

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

Devan has never bothered to be kind to me.

Conclusion (So)

Devan is my enemy.

Evidence (since)

He does not meet any of these basic criteria for friendship (being kind / offering to help / being compassionate).

Evaluate

How would we object to this conclusion. Given that Devan has never been kind, offered help, or showed compassion, how could we argue that he is not our enemy?

Isn't there some middle ground between "not being a friend" and "being an enemy"? Those aren't binary options. It feels like the author is imposing some False Choice that if someone isn't a friend, they must be an enemy.

Maybe Devan is just a stranger or just a neutral party, who isn't necessarily for us but isn't against us.

Goal

Let's look for an argument whose conclusion feels like it's swinging to the opposite pole from what the evidence is talking about.

i.e. Jim doesn't meet any of the criteria for "best employee". Thus, he is the worst employee.

22.

Which one of the following exhibits flawed reasoning most similar to the flawed reasoning exhibited in the argument above?

  1. Each officer of this club

    Different Flaw

    This argument has a different logical structure from the stimulus. It establishes requirements for being a club officer (two years' standing OR committee member) and concludes that someone who meets neither requirement is not an officer. This is actually valid reasoning — if the requirements are genuinely necessary conditions, failing all of them does disqualify someone. The flaw in the stimulus was jumping from "fails friendship criteria" to "is an enemy" — a false dichotomy between two extreme categories. This answer concludes only that someone is not an officer, which is the direct logical consequence of failing the criteria. There is no leap to an extreme opposite category. It concludes "not-X" from failing the criteria for X, whereas the stimulus concluded "anti-X" from failing the criteria for X.

    7% picked this

  2. In order to thrive, this

    Valid Logic

    This argument is logically valid, not flawed. It states that a plant needs sunny location AND regular watering to thrive. The plant is not in a sunny spot, so at least one necessary condition is unmet. The conclusion — that the plant will not thrive — follows logically. This is straightforward modus tollens: if both A and B are necessary for C, and A is absent, then C will not occur. The stimulus's flaw was a false dichotomy — leaping from "not friend" to "enemy." This answer contains no such leap; it simply concludes that a necessary condition is unmet, therefore the outcome will not occur. There is no jump to an opposite extreme category.

    15% picked this

  3. Correct

    This book has been widely

    Why this is right

    This answer perfectly mirrors the stimulus's flawed reasoning. The book has been widely reviewed and received no hostile reviews, so it does not meet the criteria for a "bad" book. The conclusion then leaps to: therefore it must be a masterpiece. This is the same false dichotomy as the stimulus. Just as the stimulus jumped from "not a friend" to "enemy" (ignoring mediocre, average, or indifferent relationships), this answer jumps from "not bad" (no hostile reviews) to "masterpiece" (extreme positive), ignoring the vast middle ground of books that are merely decent, competent, forgettable, or mediocre. The structure is identical: failing to meet the criteria for one extreme category, therefore belonging to the opposite extreme category, with all intermediate categories completely overlooked. A book with no hostile reviews could simply be unremarkable — just as someone who is not a friend could simply be a stranger.

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

    60% picked this

  4. A decision in favor of

    Different Flaw

    This argument says a decision to develop the northern border logically implies it is not in the town's best interest to use the land for recreation. This is a different type of flaw — it assumes that choosing one use for land automatically means an alternative use is not in the town's interest. The flaw here is about conflating a decision with a judgment about the best interest, or about opportunity cost and land use exclusivity. The stimulus's flaw is a false dichotomy between two extreme relational categories (friend/enemy). This answer does not leap from "not-X" to "opposite of X" — it draws an inference about competing uses of a resource. The logical structures are different: the stimulus treats two categories as exhaustive, while this answer treats two land uses as mutually exclusive and draws an evaluative conclusion about one from the selection of the other.

    3% picked this

  5. If everyone were an author,

    Different Flaw

    This argument claims that if everyone belonged to certain intellectual professions, society would collapse. This is a conditional claim about a hypothetical universal scenario. The structure is entirely different from the stimulus. The stimulus identifies specific criteria not met by an individual and then classifies that individual in an extreme opposite category. This answer makes a prediction about a hypothetical world where everyone has the same profession. There is no "not-X therefore anti-X" structure, no false dichotomy between two extreme categories, and no ignored middle ground. The flaw, if any, is about the unrealistic hypothetical or about overlooking that society can have some authors without everyone being one. The logical pattern does not match.

    15% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

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

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