LSAT and Law School Admissions Forum

Get expert LSAT preparation and law school admissions advice from PowerScore Test Preparation.

 ellenb
  • Posts: 260
  • Joined: Oct 22, 2012
|
#8741
Dear Powerscore,

I have read the explanation for this answer, I am still confused with why the answer is this way.

I know that None introduces the sufficient and negates the necessary. Thus,

Proud->not Arrogant
CP: Arrogant->not Proud.

However, this is not the answer that is in the book. Please explain.

Thanks in advance!

Ellen
 Lucas Moreau
PowerScore Staff
  • PowerScore Staff
  • Posts: 216
  • Joined: Dec 13, 2012
|
#8743
Dear Powerscore,

I have read the explanation for this answer, I am still confused with why the answer is this way.

I know that None introduces the sufficient and negates the necessary. Thus,

Proud->not Arrogant
CP: Arrogant->not Proud.

However, this is not the answer that is in the book. Please explain.

Thanks in advance!

Ellen
Hello, Ellen, this is Lucas Moreau with PowerScore. Let me see if I can help you with this. In this case, the sentence is "None but the proud is arrogant," so we know that if any person is arrogant, then that person must also be proud. You might consider rephrasing "None but the proud" as "Only the proud", as it means the same thing and is hopefully less confusingly worded that way. If the sentence reads "Only the proud are arrogant," it flows a little bit better, I think.

If only the proud are arrogant, then any arrogant person has to be proud. The contrapositive of this is that any person who is not proud cannot be arrogant - for only the proud are arrogant.

Therefore, the diagram should read:
Arrogant -> Proud
Not Proud -> Not Arrogant

I hope this helps you. Let me know if you have any additional questions.

Best,
Lucas
 ellenb
  • Posts: 260
  • Joined: Oct 22, 2012
|
#8746
Thanks Lucas,

It makes sense to just think about the point behind it, what the statement is saying instead to just stick blindly to the rules about the None or No,

I think the rule about No or None might not work here since it has "none but" which makes it a bit different right? the word "but" changes things right?

Thanks

Ellen
User avatar
 Dave Killoran
PowerScore Staff
  • PowerScore Staff
  • Posts: 5973
  • Joined: Mar 25, 2011
|
#8755
Hi Ellen,

Lucas covered this in his explanation, but for the sake of clarity, let me distill the key principle so that you can use again it in the future:

..... ..... ..... "None but" is functionally identical to "only"

Thus, whenever you encounter the "none but" phrase in the future, simply convert it to "only," and you should be able to diagram the statement more quickly and more easily.

Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!
 ellenb
  • Posts: 260
  • Joined: Oct 22, 2012
|
#8841
Makes sense! Thanks
 ellenb
  • Posts: 260
  • Joined: Oct 22, 2012
|
#8843
I got it, but just a quick thought to that:

so if we have "no one but" or "none but" or ("no but" not sure this will work) i can treat them all the same as "only" ?

Thanks

Ellen
 ellenb
  • Posts: 260
  • Joined: Oct 22, 2012
|
#8847
and if I have "No one except" it is going to be treated the same as only just like "no one but" ?
(i posted a similar question, but since it is on this thread, I think it it will be helpful for other people to know this)

Thanks

Ellen
 Nikki Siclunov
PowerScore Staff
  • PowerScore Staff
  • Posts: 1362
  • Joined: Aug 02, 2011
|
#8856
Yes, "no one except" is functionally identical to "none but". As you know, "except" is a necessary condition indicator too.

Get the most out of your LSAT Prep Plus subscription.

Analyze and track your performance with our Testing and Analytics Package.