Principle JustifyDiff: Hardest
Logic Breakdown
Passage Summary: A rule says you should only criticize someone if it won't hurt them too much and if it helps someone else. Jarrett criticized a classmate's paper, but since everyone already knew the paper was bad, the criticism didn't help anyone, so he shouldn't have done it.
Conclusion: Jarrett's public criticism of Ostertag's essay was inappropriate.
Reasoning: The criticism provided no benefit to anyone because the essay's flaws were already obvious to the audience.
Analysis: The application concludes that Jarrett should not have acted because one specific condition of the principle—the expectation of benefit—was not met. However, the original principle is phrased as a 'necessary' condition ('only if'), not a 'sufficient' one. To bridge this gap, we need an answer that confirms that failing the 'benefit' requirement is enough to make the criticism wrong. It’s a classic case of someone being 'helpful' when no one asked and no one needed it—the LSAT equivalent of a 'reply all' email that just says 'thanks.'
Conclusion: Jarrett's public criticism of Ostertag's essay was inappropriate.
Reasoning: The criticism provided no benefit to anyone because the essay's flaws were already obvious to the audience.
Analysis: The application concludes that Jarrett should not have acted because one specific condition of the principle—the expectation of benefit—was not met. However, the original principle is phrased as a 'necessary' condition ('only if'), not a 'sufficient' one. To bridge this gap, we need an answer that confirms that failing the 'benefit' requirement is enough to make the criticism wrong. It’s a classic case of someone being 'helpful' when no one asked and no one needed it—the LSAT equivalent of a 'reply all' email that just says 'thanks.'
Passage Stimulus
Passage Redacted
Unlock Full Passage20.Which one of the following, if true, justifies the above application of the principle?
Correct Answer
A
If Jarrett knew pointing out the obvious defects would benefit no one, he could not have been acting with the hope or expectation of benefiting someone other than himself. By the principle’s contrapositive, he should not have criticized.
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