Logical reasoning PrepTest 118 · Section 4 · Question 10

Incorrect. Though you may not know what "ascetic" means, that doesn't mean it's an imprecise term! It has a specific meaning that is related to monetary gain, and so this answer is wrong. If you come across unfamiliar vocab on the LSAT, be sure to look it up—the LSAT likes to reuse vocab.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Errors in Reasoning

Stimulus Summary:
Monks demonstrated happiness with their lifestyle, so medieval societies were, overall, much less concerned with money than we are today.

Answer Anticipation:
The argument draws a conclusion about medieval society overall based on the writings of monks. That seems like a skewed sample! The lifestyle of monks is probably not indicative of how the average person in a society lives. The correct answer should highlight this jump.

Note that the conclusion also compares medieval society to contemporary society, but the premises never discuss contemporary society. The conclusion does make an assumption about modern society, thus committing a flaw, but assuming that modern cultures are concerned with monetary gain doesn't sound like that big of a jump, so it's unlikely that ends up being the correct answer.

Answer Explanation:
This answer highlights the jump between the monks (a sample likely to be unrepresentative, at least as far as lifestyle is concerned) to society more generally, so it's the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
Whether you viewed this as a part (monks) to whole (society) flaw or a sampling flaw, the error comes from basing a much broader conclusion based on a limited set of examples. When a conclusion is broad—especially when it's about society overall—check to make sure the premises are broad enough to back it up. This usually requires a note that a sample is representative, an example is indicative of the average, or a principle that allows a generalization.

Incorrect. The argument does compare medieval society to contemporary culture, and it does so through a modern viewpoint, but it doesn't draw a judgment about medieval society based on modern standards. Rather, it uses writings from the period itself to draw a conclusion, thus applying judgments of individuals who were alive at the time.

Incorrect. The argument is about how people felt about their lifestyles, so it has an aspect of opinion to it and isn't a purely factual debate.

Incorrect. There's only one premise, so they can't be contradictory.