October 2010 LSAT Section 3 Question 3

Commentator: If a political administration is both economically successful and successful at protecting individual li...

amandatoto on October 17, 2019

Subsidiary Conclusion

In example 4, you mention that we cannot rule out B because it is a premise because a subsidiary conclusion is also a premise. I am confused on how a subsidiary conclusion can also be a premise.

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Skylar on October 20, 2019

@amandatoto Happy to help!

A subsidiary conclusion is a conclusion in that it has at least one premise that supports it, but it is also a premise itself in that it supports a larger conclusion.

Any statement that supports the conclusion is a premise. A subsidiary conclusion is subsidiary because it ultimately support a larger, overall conclusion. So, by definition a subsidiary is also a premise.

Does this make sense? Please let us know if you have any other questions.