LSAT Explanation PT 23, S2, Q24: One of the great difficulties in

LSAT Question Stem

If the statements above are true, which one of the following can be most reasonably inferred from them? 

Logical Reasoning Question Type

This is a Most Strongly supported question. 

Correct Answer

The correct answer to this question is D. 

LSAT Question Complete Explanation

This is a Most Strongly Supported question, which means we need to find an answer choice that can be reasonably inferred from the information provided in the passage. The passage discusses the challenges in establishing animal rights based on the fact that animals are living things. The difficulty lies in defining the term "living things" – a broad definition could include non-animal organisms like plants, while a narrow definition might exclude some organisms that are considered part of the animal kingdom. Our task is to determine which answer choice can be most reasonably inferred from this information.

Let's consider an example to help clarify the passage: Imagine you want to give rights to all members of a sports club, but you're unsure how to define "sports club members." If you define it broadly, you might end up including people who just come to watch the games (non-athletes); if you define it narrowly, you might exclude some athletes who participate in less common sports. This is similar to the problem of defining "living things" in the context of animal rights.

Now, let's analyze the answer choices:

a) Not all animals should be given rights.

This answer choice is incorrect because the passage doesn't make any value judgments about which animals should or shouldn't be given rights. It only discusses the difficulties in defining "living things."

b) One cannot bestow rights on animals without also bestowing rights on at least some plants.

This answer choice is incorrect because it's possible to come up with a definition that doesn't include plants. For example, defining animals based on the absence of chlorophyll in their cells would exclude plants but still include animals.

c) The problem of delineating the boundary of the set of living things interferes with every attempt to establish animal rights.

This answer choice is incorrect because the passage only discusses the difficulty in defining "living things" when trying to establish animal rights based on that definition. It doesn't state that this problem interferes with every attempt to establish animal rights.

d) Successful attempts to establish rights for all animals are likely either to establish rights for some plants or not to depend solely on the observation that animals are living things.

This answer choice is correct because it covers the two most likely scenarios when trying to establish animal rights based on the definition of "living things": either defining it broadly and including some plants or using additional criteria beyond just being "living things" to define animals.

e) The fact that animals are living things is irrelevant to the question of whether animals should or should not be accorded rights, because plants are living things too.

This answer choice is incorrect because it focuses on the relevance of the fact that animals are living things, while the passage only discusses the challenges in defining "living things" for the purpose of establishing animal rights. The passage doesn't make any judgments about the relevance of this fact.

Therefore, the correct answer choice is (d).