June 1994 LSAT Section 4 Question 22

Paulsville and Longtown cannot both be included in the candidate's itinerary of campaign stops. The candidate will ma...

Karen-Norris on January 12, 2022

I'm confused about what a "bi-conditional" is.

The explanation for questions D and E, both mention the presence of a bi-conditional, but I don't know what that term means. I diagrammed D's biconditional as P<-|->NE, and E's biconditional as D<->E (D and E are both sufficient and necessary for each other. But I'm not sure I know how to spot a bi-conditional.

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Ravi on January 12, 2022

Great question. A biconditional is just a fancy term for statements that are “if and only if” or “if but only if” statements. These statements are called biconditionals because both of the components of the statement are sufficient and necessary conditions for each other. Let’s break down why this is the case.

A if and only if B

This statement contains two statements.

A if B (B-->A)

And

A only if B (A-->B)

Notice that both A and B have arrows going to and from them. This is why we can combine these statements to make A<->B. Think of a biconditional statement as a two-way conditional statement. Bi means 2, so that should also help you to remember. Hope this helps!

Karen-Norris on January 12, 2022

Yes, that really helps alot. Thank you so much. Karen

Ravi on February 8, 2022

Happy this helped.