In part one of this series, we discuss the Logical Reasoning flaws that candidates during the political season help demonstrate. On the LSAT, LR flaws are a common question you will face. In this post, we consider several more examples. Causal Reasoning"I'm the most successful person ever to run for the presidency, by far." - Donald TrumpCausal reasoning flaw: assuming a causal relationship where only a correlation has been … [Read more...]
Logical Reasoning Flaws in American Politics Part I
If you're preparing for the LSAT, you're probably familiar with the sorts of flaws that commonly appear on the Logical Reasoning sections of the test. If not, there is an entire chapter devoted to Flaw in the Reasoning questions in the PowerScore LSAT Logical Reasoning Bible. Your chances of running into a flaw question on the test is very high. Political debating season provides countless examples, as well. Source Argument“Look at that … [Read more...]
Sterling Archer’s Many Flaws: Do You Want Ants?
Archer, an animated series on FX, is about a spy agency and its group of clever, often bitingly sarcastic secret agents, who provide some great examples of the same kinds of logical flaws that we see on the LSAT:Ad Hominem Argument This type of flawed logic, often called a “source argument” describes an attack directly on the speaker, or the source of the argument, rather than on the merits of the argument itself.A great example appears … [Read more...]
How to Attack Flaw in the Reasoning Questions on the LSAT
Flaw in the Reasoning questions require you to identify the underlying logical flaw in the argument. Over time, Flaw questions have become among the most common question types on the Logical Reasoning section of the LSAT. In fact, they account for approximately 15% of all questions and 30% of all First Family questions. Your next test will likely contain as many Flaw questions as all Main Point, Method, Parallel, Parallel Flaw, and Cannot Be True … [Read more...]
Straw Man Arguments: Logical Reasoning Flaws
Of all the logical flaws you might encounter on test day, a "straw man" argument not only has the most interesting name (and "straw man" is actually the proper name used in logic for this flaw), it also provides some of the most entertaining examples. In the context of an LSAT question, however, the usage is fairly predictable.Typically, you'll see a stimulus with two speakers. The second speaker will reframe the first speaker's argument in a … [Read more...]