October 2010 LSAT Section 3 Question 2

Since there is no survival value in an animal's having an organ that is able to function when all its other organs ha...

andreaskormusis on July 20, 2020

Determining the conclusion

Could it be accurate to state that if the passage has a sentence beginning with the word "besides" or words with the same connotations, that the previous sentence would be the main conclusion of the passage?

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shunhe on July 21, 2020

Hi @andreaskormusis,

Thanks for the question! I wouldn’t automatically say that if there’s a sentence with the word “besides” or a similar word, that the sentence before has to be the main conclusion of the passage. It could be an intermediary conclusion, first of all. And also, it could be a premise too. Consider the following argument:

I know for a fact it was raining today. My dog stayed inside all day, and she only stays inside when it rains. Besides, my car, which I left parked outside, was wet.

Here, the conclusion is “it was raining today.” But the sentence before the “besides” sentence is another premise; it’s a reason I think it rained today, which is that my dog stayed inside all day. So I wouldn’t conclude that because you see “besides,” you should assume the sentence before is the main conclusion.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.

andreaskormusis on July 21, 2020

Ahhh, I understand now. I was still early on the understanding of premises and conclusions, so I better see how the two interact, Thanks for the explanation!

shunhe on August 1, 2020

Of course, glad you figured it out!