Flaws: Overlooked Possibility

There’s something wrong with your thinking when you “overlook the possibility” or “fail to consider” something. That’s why these phrases show up so often in “flaw” questions in the logical reasoning section of the LSAT.  (There are an average of 7 “overlooked possibility” answers per test.) You’ll see the same sort of answers on “weaken the argument” questions, with one little difference. The right answer to a weaken question may say, “There is more than one type of tuna.” The right answer to a flaw question may say, “Fails to consider that there is more than one type of tuna.” It is the failure to consider this possibility that turn it into a case of “flawed reasoning.”

The most reliable way to work through any overlooked possibility answer is to use what I call “JY Ping’s Unless Test.” This can  be found in the 7Sage LSAT curriculum. I have been informed by my students that JY Ping, who is one of God’s gifts to aspiring law students everywhere, suggests that you sort out a “weaken” stimulus into its evidence and conclusion and then read it out as follows:

• BECAUSE [evidence]
• THEREFORE [conclusion]
• UNLESS [answer]

Thus, we might see a question like this:

• BECAUSE My wife loves tuna for lunch
• THEREFORE She will love this solid white albacore tuna salad
• UNLESS There is more than one type of tuna

(Note: there is more than one type of tuna and, no, Marcia doesn’t love solid white albacore!)

As you work through flaw questions with a “fails to consider” or “overlooks the possibility” answer, say the word “unless” and then read that answer off to yourself. If this doesn’t immediately and always get you the right answer, spend a little time on that question to see whether this technique will work for you. Leave a comment if it doesn’t help you on a particular question and I’ll see what I can do to make this clearer!