Question Type:
Principle Example
Stimulus Breakdown:
Principle: one should not intentionally misrepresent another's beliefs.
(Exception: one is doing so to act in the other person's interest.)
Answer Anticipation:
We're looking for an answer that violates the principle as stated. The correct answer might involve misrepresenting another's beliefs without the purpose of acting in the other person's interest.
Correct Answer:
(A)
Answer Choice Analysis:
(A) This is correct. Ann was not acting in Bruce's interest.
(B) This conforms to the principle. Claude misrepresented Thelma's beliefs, but was acting in her interest.
(C) The principle does not apply. We don't know if John misrepresented Maria's beliefs, only that she did not want John to tell people what he told them. Maybe he represented her beliefs correctly, but she didn't want to share those beliefs. Even if he did misrepresent her beliefs, the answer indicates that he did so in order to make people think highly of her.
(D) The principle does not apply, since Harvey was misrepresenting his own beliefs, not someone else's.
(E) The principle does not apply. We don't know if Wanda misrepresented George's beliefs. He might actually think Egypt is in Asia. Regardless of that, we don't know that Wanda wasn't acting in George's interests. It sounds like she wasn't!
Takeaway/Pattern: When we're asked for an answer that violates a principle, incorrect answers could conform to the principle, or they could involve a situation where the principle doesn't even come into play.
#officialexplanation
LSAT Forum
2 postsPage 1 of 1
-
- smiller
-
Thanks Received: 73
-
Atticus Finch
- Posts: 205
- Joined: February 01st, 2013
-
- emilynotini
-
Thanks Received: 3
-
Vinny Gambini
- Posts: 5
- Joined: July 18th, 2014
- This post thanked 3 times.
Q19 - One should not intentionally misrepresent...
Reviewing Prep Test 71 now and this was one of the few LR questions I got wrong. I mistakenly thought that the question stem read, "Which one of the following most clearly depicts the principle stated?" However, it asks which one of the following most clearly VIOLATES the principle stated. Kicking myself in the butt for this one, for sure.
The stimulus is as follows:
Someone should not intentionally misrepresent another's beliefs unless their purpose in doing so is to act in the interest of the other person.
Turning the stimulus into formal logic notation:
Intentionally misrepresent another person's beliefs --> Purpose in doing so is to act in the interest of that other person
Further, the contrapositive is:
~Purpose is to act in the interest of that other person --> ~Intentionally misrepresent another person's beliefs
With this info, we can attack the answer choices and see which answer most clearly violates the principle.
A: Ann knew that Bruce did not think the Apollo missions to the moon were elaborate hoaxes, but she told someone that he did simply to make him look like a fool. This clearly violates the principle stated above, and is probably our correct answer.
B: Claude knew that Thelma did not believe in extraterrestrial beings, but he told someone she believed in them to keep her protected from this other person. Claude intentionally misrepresented Thelma's beliefs, but he did so in the interest of Thelma. This does not violate the principle.
C: John told people that Maria believed university education should be free. She did not want him to tell people that, but John did not misconstrue her beliefs AND he wanted people to think highly of her. This does not validate or violate the principle.
D: Harvey told Josephine that he thought she would be famous someday even though he didn't really think that. He did it out of his own self interest. In this instance, Harvey is not intentionally misconstruing any other person's beliefs, and he is not acting in the interest of anyone but himself. This does not validate or violate the principle.
E: Wanda told people that George thought Egypt was in Asia even though she knew Egypt was in Africa. She did this because she wanted people to think that George knew little about geography. In this case, Wanda is not misrepresenting George's beliefs, because the stimulus does not state whether George, himself, believed Egypt was in Asia or not. This does not violate the principle.
A is our correct answer choice because it most clearly violates the principle.
The stimulus is as follows:
Someone should not intentionally misrepresent another's beliefs unless their purpose in doing so is to act in the interest of the other person.
Turning the stimulus into formal logic notation:
Intentionally misrepresent another person's beliefs --> Purpose in doing so is to act in the interest of that other person
Further, the contrapositive is:
~Purpose is to act in the interest of that other person --> ~Intentionally misrepresent another person's beliefs
With this info, we can attack the answer choices and see which answer most clearly violates the principle.
A: Ann knew that Bruce did not think the Apollo missions to the moon were elaborate hoaxes, but she told someone that he did simply to make him look like a fool. This clearly violates the principle stated above, and is probably our correct answer.
B: Claude knew that Thelma did not believe in extraterrestrial beings, but he told someone she believed in them to keep her protected from this other person. Claude intentionally misrepresented Thelma's beliefs, but he did so in the interest of Thelma. This does not violate the principle.
C: John told people that Maria believed university education should be free. She did not want him to tell people that, but John did not misconstrue her beliefs AND he wanted people to think highly of her. This does not validate or violate the principle.
D: Harvey told Josephine that he thought she would be famous someday even though he didn't really think that. He did it out of his own self interest. In this instance, Harvey is not intentionally misconstruing any other person's beliefs, and he is not acting in the interest of anyone but himself. This does not validate or violate the principle.
E: Wanda told people that George thought Egypt was in Asia even though she knew Egypt was in Africa. She did this because she wanted people to think that George knew little about geography. In this case, Wanda is not misrepresenting George's beliefs, because the stimulus does not state whether George, himself, believed Egypt was in Asia or not. This does not violate the principle.
A is our correct answer choice because it most clearly violates the principle.
2 posts Page 1 of 1