Logical reasoning PrepTest 101 · Section 3 · Question 24

Incorrect. This answer concludes that S is just, so it needs to meet all of the conditions. However, it fails to meet one of them in having jobs that are leading to inequalities available to "most" people instead of everyone.

Incorrect. This answer concludes that S is not just, so it's justified if the argument establishes that any single condition of a just society isn't met. However, it fails to do so! It establishes that there are economic inequalities, but it doesn't speak to whether they are to everyone's benefit and due to jobs available to everyone. Since it fails to establish that one of the conditions is missing, the conclusion isn't justified.

Incorrect. This answer concludes that S is just, so it needs to meet all of the conditions. However, this answer fails to discuss whether everyone has equal right to basic liberties, so it's incorrect.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Must Be True (Principle)

Stimulus Summary:
Society is just ←→
(1) Everyone has equal rights
AND
(2) Inequalities not tolerated unless to everyone's advantage and because of open jobs

Answer Anticipation:
Must Be True (Principle) questions generally present 1-2 conditional principles that present "matching" judgments. We get those judgments in the necessary conditions and then compare each answer to the principles to see which are justified.

Here, we get only one conditional principle, but it's quite a doozy, so let's work through it.

First, it's a biconditional ("when, and only when"). However, it's most likely that the answer will describe a society and then conclude whether it's just or not, and so we should focus on that direction of the biconditional. The fact that the statement is biconditional, however, means that it's reversible, so we can just flip the principle as presented around to get a just society as a "necessary" condition.

So what are the conditions that would allow us to conclude that a society is just? First, everyone has equal rights. Additionally ("AND"), inequalities can be tolerated only under specific conditions—when they're to everyone's advantage and they're related to jobs that are open to anyone.

Since this is a biconditional, we don't need to "flip" when we negate to get the contrapositive (since biconditionals can always be flipped around), so if we're missing any of those sufficient conditions, then we can conclude that a society is unjust. That seems more likely than the latter (since a single detail can justify calling a society unjust, whereas a lot of details would be needed to justify a conclusion that a society is just). Let's stay open to both, but we would probably focus on the not-just society answers first on the actual exam.

Answer Explanation:
This answer concludes that S is not just, so it's correct if any of the criteria are established as missing. And here, it's established that in Society S, there isn't equal right to basic liberties. Since this society fails to meet a necessary condition for being just, the conclusion that it is not just is, well, justified, so this is the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
Note that we diagrammed this out a bit differently than normal, and we ignored the really complex conditional phrasing of the last condition (it includes an "unless," after all, and thus could have itself been diagrammed). Remember, though, that our diagrams are meant to be tools that help us answer questions—if you have a perfect diagram but it slows you down or leads you to the wrong answer, it's worth nothing. As such, make sure you use these tools to understand an argument that you'd otherwise have difficulty understanding. And if it's getting in the way of you understanding something that you feel comfortable with, abandon the tool.

Incorrect. This answer concludes that S is just, so it needs to meet all of the conditions. And while it establishes most of them, it fails to establish that the inequalities are to everyone's benefit, thus falling just short.