#21 - Two doctrines have been greatly influential in this

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Assumption. The correct answer choice is (A).

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[kcho10]

I'm having trouble seeing how A is correct. It seems like an exaggeration. We only need to assume that the first doctrine precludes the second doctrine, which is psychological accounts of historical events. But there are other noneconomic accounts besides psychological. So wouldn't it be an exaggeration to say that the first doctrine precludes ANY noneconomic factors?

[Adam Tyson]

I see your point, kcho10, and it's a good one. The author's assumption is probably more correctly described as "it cannot be both of those things" instead of "it must be just one thing". Perhaps the author would be okay if the doctrines could each allow for some third thing, something that is neither economic nor psychological, to be a factor?

In cases like this, it is good to remind yourself of the instructions for the LR section of the test, which tell us to select the best answer of the five choices presented. It's not about picking a perfect answer, or even a good one, although most of the time the correct answers are perfect or nearly so. Here, answer A is simply the best answer of the bunch. It is also not unreasonable to think that this author assumes (without justification) that the two doctrines include within them the concept of "only".

What happens when we test answer A with the Negation Technique? We get something like "the first doctrine does not preclude non-economic factors", and that pretty well wrecks the argument because it opens the door to psychological factors also playing a part. None of the other answers has that kind of impact when negated, and that is how we know that answer A is the best answer of the bunch.

That can be a tough pill to swallow, kcho10, especially for the typical LSAT taker who is somewhat fiercely argumentative and wants to find perfect answers that are clearly correct, without ambiguity. However, as you head into first the study of and later the practice of law, you will often find that there are no clearly correct answers to many legal questions. Ambiguity and nuance are what make lawyers and courts necessary! The LSAT is the first step on that journey towards embracing answers that are less than perfect, but which accomplish your goal to the greatest degree possible.

[kcho10]

This really helped my study approach. Thank you!!

[gabgie7]

Hello,

I am having trouble understanding why A is a better answer than E. In my understanding of the stem, it says there are two doctrines, one looking at economic factors and one looking at psychological factors. The author says they cannot both be right because there are some events that were due to both. I prephrased that the answer would be that the assumption needed is that the two doctrines are mutually exclusive / can't overlap.

Answer A did not seem like the best option to me because it only says why the first doctrine was mistaken, when the conclusion of the argument is that they are both mistaken. I can see why E is wrong, because it says that appeals to both are need to understand ANY event even though the stem says some events, but A doesn't seem complete. Can you help?

[Dana D]

Hey gabgie,

The conclusion states that both doctrines are wrong because some events are due to economic factors and the nature of childhood experiences. If the first doctrine appealed to economic factors and considered the nature of childhood experiences of major participants in the event, then by this logic we could not say the doctrine was wrong. We must assume that the first doctrine precludes any noneconomic factors to draw this conclusion.

There are a bunch of other assumptions necessary for the stimulus' argument to make sense, including assuming that the second doctrine precludes any economic forces, for the same reasoning as above, however that was not an answer choice (although Answer choice (B) almost says this).