#14 - Advertisement: HomeGlo Paints, Inc., has won the

[tetsuya0129]

Hi there, could you please explain why the stimulus does not reveal a part-to-whole flaw? The conclusion seems to be guilty of this fallacy by saying that choosing the most improved product means choosing the safest brand.

Thank you very much,
Leon

[KelseyWoods]

Hi Leon!

As Adam noted above, the label you assign to the flaw isn't all that important as long as you understand what the flaw is. The LSAT isn't going to use the names of flaws in its answer choices so these are really more for ease of studying than for practical use on the test. I wouldn't necessarily classify this as a Part to Whole Flaw but if that's how you want to think of it, go for it! The actual important thing here is to recognize that just because something is the most improved in terms of environmental safety, that doesn't make it the most environmentally safe brand. Just because it has gotten better relative to how it previously was, that doesn't mean that it is the best relative to all the other brands. As long as you recognize that flaw correctly, it doesn't matter how you label it or even if you label it (many flaws don't fit neatly into any of the commonly named flaws!).

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey

[tetsuya0129]

I see. Thank you so much, Kelsey!

[wisnain]

Hi,

Since the argument begins with winning a particular award and concludes that it is ‘the safest’ brand, I thought the flaw was an appeal to authority. Therefore, I immediately chose (A). How am I supposed to identify the correct flaw when I have such a strong initial assumption?

[Adam Tyson]

Make sure you read the entire stimulus, wisnain, and get the whole picture so that you don't prematurely settle on one idea. In this case, the author doesn't say that this product must be the safest simply because some authority figure gave it an award. They actually described how the award was determined, and it's based on independent testing rather than just some random authority figure. The award, and the group that gave it, aren't what the author is relying on. It's that shift from the concept of "most improved in safety" to the concept of "safest."

Get the whole picture, and don't rush to judgment!