LSAT 114 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q13

LR Question 13 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Historian: Political regimes that routinely censor various…

QUESTION TYPE: Necessary Assumption

CONCLUSION: Many totalitarian regimes classify materials as blasphemous or pornographic if those materials would reduce public passivity.

REASONING: Regimes that censor materials based on morality inevitably expand the categories to include criticism that regimes perceive as threatening their power.

ANALYSIS: The argument assumes without proof that there is a link between lack of public passivity and a threat to the power of totalitarian regimes.

___________

1. Some things can be wildly popular even if they don’t express something that was widely believed. But that has nothing to do with whether or not regimes censor materials that reduce passivity. 
2. It doesn’t matter if other regimes do this. The conclusion was restricted to what totalitarian regimes do.
3. CORRECT. If a regime does not perceive loss of passivity as a threat then they must have some other reason for restricting materials that reduce passivity (a reason apart from fear.) 
4. This is tempting, but the conclusion is talking about what regimes perceive as threats. This is talking about what actually is a threat. They can be different. 
5. It isn’t necessary that most writings labeled pornographic are like this. It’s only necessary that some are.