Identifying Conditionality Example

[hyperfang9000]

Hello! Can someone help me break down the sufficient and necessary components of this example? I'm having a hard time because "only" is throwing me off.

"Only those experiments on animals that are known to cause those animals pain should be prohibited."

The PowerScore LSAT Bible breaks it down as:

Experiment should be prohibited --> Experiment known to cause pain to animals

Can someone help explain? Thank you so much in advance for your time and help!

[Jeff Wren]

Hi hyperfang,

"Only those experiments on animals that are known to cause those animals pain should be prohibited."

The conditional indicator word in this sentence is the word "only," which is a necessary indicator.

The word "only" modifies "experiments on animals that are known to cause those animals pain," so this term is the necessary condition.

The other part of the sentence "should be prohibited" is therefore the sufficient condition (basically by process of elimination, if it's not the necessary, then it's the sufficient).

Keep in mind that the necessary condition can appear before the sufficient condition or after the sufficient condition, so you don't determine which condition is sufficient/necessary based on where it appears in a sentence, instead you rely on the indicator words and the logic of the sentence.

When analyzing and diagramming conditional statements, sometimes you determine the necessary condition first, and then figure out the sufficient, while other times you determine the sufficient condition first, and then figure out the necessary. It all depends on how the sentence is written and what indicator word or words are used.