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Logical Reasoning Section
Logical Reasoning Section
Section
Arguments
Most logical reasoning questions focus on
arguments, which are sets of statements that
present evidence and draw a conclusion on the
basis of that evidence. These arguments are
generally short and self-contained. For example:
Sarah is well-qualified, and the hiring committee is
very familiar with her work. Therefore, she will
probably receive a job offer.
Here, there are two pieces of evidence. These
evidence are the premises of the argument.
Sarah is well-qualified.
The hiring committee is very familiar with her work.
The premises are offered in support of the
conclusion, which is:
Sarah will probably receive a job offer.
Identifying the Parts of an Argument
The most basic parts are the premises and
conclusions. An argument may even have an
intermediate conclusion. For example:
Computer Whiz is a well-respected magazine with a
large readership, so its product endorsements
carry a lot of weight in the computer electronics
marketplace. The X2000 display monitor was
recently endorsed by Computer Whiz. It is therefore
likely that sales of the X2000 monitor will increase
dramatically.
Keep in mind that premises and conclusions can come in any
order. Premises are presented in support of a conclusion, but this
does not mean that premises always come before the conclusion.
For example:
Dolores is far more skillful than Victor is at securing the kind of financial
support the Volunteers for Literacy Program needs, and Dolores does not
have Victor’s propensity for alienating the program’s most dedicated
volunteers. Therefore, the Volunteers for Literacy Program would
benefit if Dolores took Victor’s place as director.
Dolores is fare more skillful than Victor is at securing the kind of financial
support the Volunteers for Literacy Program needs. Therefore, the
program would benefit if Dolores took Victor’s place as director,
especially since Dolores does not have Victor’s propensity for alienating the
program’s most dedicated volunteers.
The Volunteers for Literacy Program would benefit if Dolores took
Victor’s place as director, since Dolores is far more skillful than Victor is
at securing the kind of financial support the program needs and Dolores
does not have Victor’s propensity for alienating the program’s most
dedicated volunteers.
Keep in mind the presence of indicator words that
mark the roles that statements play in arguments. For
example, “therefore” often precedes a conclusion.
Other common conclusion indicators are “thus,”
“hence,” “consequently,” “it follows that,” “it can be
concluded that,” and others. Similarly, premises are
often preceded by indicator words, the most typical
being “since” and “because.”
But don’t rely on these. These are just tools to help
you understand arguments. There is no completely
mechanical way of identifying the roles that various
statements play within an argument.
How the Argument Goes
Once you’ve identified the premises and the conclusion, the next
step is to get clear about exactly how the argument is meant to
go; that is, how the grounds offered for the conclusion are
actually supposed to bear on the conclusion. In other words,
how are the premises supposed to support the overall
conclusion.
Let’s consider the argument presented earlier about the
Volunteers for Literacy Program, which concludes that the
program would benefit if Dolores took Victor’s place as director.
Two considerations in support of this conclusion are offered:
one asserting Dolores’s superiority in securing financial support
and the other charging that Victor is more prone to alienating
dedicated volunteers. These two considerations are both
relevant to the conclusion since, all other things being equal, a
program benefits from having a director who is both better at
fund-raising and less likely to alienate dedicated volunteers.
Questions About How the Argument Goes