Flaws

Question 1

• “Cites irrelevant data”
• “Draws a conclusion that is not warranted by the evidence provided”
• “Uses inapplicable information to draw a conclusion”
• “Fails to give any reason for the judgement it reaches”

Answer 1

Errors in the use of evidence - Lack of relevant evidence for the conclusion`

Question 2

• “Inconsistent claims”
• “irreconcilable presuppositions”
• “Conflicting premises”

Answer 2

Internal contradiction

Question 3

takes an exceptional case or a small number of instances to make a general rule

Answer 3

Overgeneralization

Question 4

• Lack of evidence is used to disprove a conclusion
• Lack of evidence against a position is used as proof that the conclusion is true
• Some evidence weakening a position is used to claim that the position is false
• Some evidence for a position is used to claim the position is true

Answer 4

Errors in assessing the force of evidence

Question 5

Source argument (aka ad hominem)

Answer 5

• on the LSAT, it is never legit to attack the person instead of the argument, only the argument matters, so dismissing an argument on the basis of the source, whether they are attacking the source’s motives or actions etc. is a flaw

Question 6

• “Assumes what it is attempting to demonstrate”
• “Presupposes what it sets out to prove”
• “Assumes the conclusion is true in stating the premises”

Answer 6

Circular reasoning - the author using the claim paraphrased as its own warrant

Question 7

Mistaking sufficient and necessary conditions

Answer 7

Errors of conditional reasoning - the more tricky of these questions describe the errors in logical terms

Question 8

“Taking the absence of an occurrence as evidence that a necessary condition for that occurrence also did not take place”

Answer 8

Mistaken negation

Question 9

“Mistakes being sufficient to achieve a particular outcome as being required to achieve it”

Answer 9

Mistaken reversal

Question 10

ignores the real argument made by the opponent and mischaracterizes it as an argument

Answer 10

Straw Man - ignores the real argument made by the opponent and mischaracterizes it as an argument (made of STRAW so to speak ) which is easier to defeat

Question 11

“The argument appeals to emotion rather than reason”

Answer 11

appeal fallacy - Appeal to emotion - emotions or emotionally charged language

Question 12

appeal fallacies

Answer 12

• Appeal to authority - citing the opinion of an inapplicable expert
• Appeal to popular opinions/numbers - saying something is true because a lot of people think it is
  Appeal to emotion - emotions or emotionally charged language

Question 13

Survey errors

Answer 13

• Biased sample
• Inappropriate sample
• Improperly constructed questions
• A survey where respondents are unlikely to give truthful responses (Qs about weight or money)

Question 14

things true of members of a group are not necessarily true of the group as a whole and vice versa

Answer 14

Errors of composition and division

Question 15

• “Depending on the ambiguous use of a key term”
• “It confuses two different meanings of the word X”
• “Equivocates with respect to a central concept”

Answer 15

Uncertain use of a term or concept (most common wrong answer choice given) - it’s only correct when the stimulus clearly uses the same word in two diff ways

Question 16

compares something to something too dissimilar for the comparison to make sense

Answer 16

False analogy

Question 17

acts as though there are only two possible outcomes/courses of action when that is not in fact the case
“Fails to consider…”

Answer 17

False dilemma

“Fails to consider…”

Question 18

• “Treats a claim about the current state of affairs as if it were a claim about what has been the case for an extended period”
• “Draws an unwarranted inferences from what has been true in the past to what will be true in the future”

Answer 18

Time shift errors - just because something was true in a given time doesn’t mean it will continue to be true

Question 19

assuming that knowledge about a quality something possesses relative to something else means more than it does (he has more money than me, so he is rich)

Answer 19

Relativity flaw

Question 20

we’ve already invested $100m so we need to invest more or we will lose the investment!!

Answer 20

Sunk costs/concorde fallacy

Question 21

• Making incorrect assumptions about numbers from percentages or vice versa
• Relativity mistakes

Answer 21

Numbers and percentage errors

Question 22

“fails to address a highly plausible alternative explanation for all instances of the observed phenomenon”

Answer 22

false dilemma
acts as though there are only two possible outcomes/courses of action when that is not in fact the case
“Fails to consider…”

Question 23

It overlooks the possibility that even if a disease is one of the most common in a nation, most people in that nation are not in significant danger of developing that disease.

Answer 23

relativity flaw

Question 24

treats an occurrence that will ensure a certain outcome as something that is required for that outcome

Answer 24

The argument confuses a sufficient condition in the first premise for a necessary condition.

Question 25

The argument confuses a sufficient condition in the first premise for a necessary condition.

Answer 25

mistaken reversal

Question 26

rejects a claim merely on the grounds that its proponent holds another view inconsistent with it

Answer 26

source flaw - Just because someone might seem to be a hypocrite doesn’t mean that one of their opinions is wrong.

Question 27

CORRECT takes for granted that something that has not been proven to be true is for that reason shown to be false

Answer 27

evidence flaw