December 2004 LSAT Section 2 Question 16

In practice the government will have the last word on what an individual's rights are, because its police will do wha...

awashing on November 27, 2016

Working through problem

Can someone please explain this problem which proved difficult? I don't think I could have diagrammed this one so an alternative approach would be appreciated.

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Mehran on December 1, 2016

@awashing of course!

This is a Main Point question so there are two criteria for the correct answer choice here: (1) it must must be true and (2) it must be the main point of the argument.

So what is the conclusion of this argument?

It is the first part of the second sentence, i.e. "But that does not mean that the government's view is necessarily the correct view . . . "

The support provided for this conclusion?

" . . . anyone who thinks it is must believe that persons have only such moral rights as the government chooses to grant, which means that they have no moral rights at all."

So we are looking for an answer that restates the conclusion.

(B) states, "What government officials and courts say an individual's rights are may not be correct."

As such, (B) would be the correct answer.

Hope that helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Moreira-Tetauira on August 9, 2019

hi
how did you find the conclusion I got confused and thought that the support "anyone who thinks it is must believe... moral rights at all" was the conclusion
thank you