If something would have been justifiably regretted if it had occurred

Question

If something would have been justifiably regretted if it had occurred, then it is something that one should not have desired in the first place. It follows that many forgone pleasures should not have been desired in the first place.

The conclusion above follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

A. One should never regret one’s pleasures. 
B. Forgone pleasures that were not desired would not have been justifiably regretted. 
C. Everything that one desires and then regrets not having is a forgone pleasure. 
D. Many forgone pleasures would have been justifiably regretted. 
E. Nothing that one should not have desired in the first place fails to be a pleasure.

LSAT question

Skywalker18 · Accepted Answer

Let A = something that would have been justifiably regretted. 
Let B = forgone pleasures. 
Let C = should not have been desired in the first place.

Premise: A --> C. 
If something would have been justifiably regretted if it had occurred, then it is something that one should not have desired in the first place.

Conclusion: B --> C. 
Many forgone pleasures should not have been desired in the first place.

Missing link = B --> A: 
If B --> A (assumption), and A --> C (premise), then B --> C (conclusion).

The correct answer will provide the missing link B --> A: 
Forgone pleasures --> something that would have been justifiably regretted.

D. Many forgone pleasures would have been justifiably regretted. - Correct

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

This is an intimidating problem at first glance. The terminology is complex and the problem appears to be based on difficult philosophical principles. First, analyze the structure of the argument: The mechanistic approach works for the vast majority of Justify questions. On occasion a question is worded so deceptively that the method can be hard to apply. In these instances, the method leaves more than one answer as possibly correct; it will NOT lead you to an incorrect answer.

Premise:  If something would have been justifiably regretted if it had occurred, then it is something that one should not have desired in the first place.

Conclusion:  Many forgone pleasures should not have been desired in the first place. Second, use the three steps for mechanistically solving Justify questions as described in this section.

1. Any “new” or “rogue” element in the conclusion will appear in the correct answer. “Many forgone pleasures” is a new element that appears only in the conclusion. Only answer choices (B), (C), and (D) contain “forgone pleasures,” and only answer choice (D) contains “many.” Thus, if forced to make a quick decision, answer choice (D) would be the best selection at this point in our analysis. And, fortunately, the technique is so powerful that this analysis does indeed yield the correct answer. Regardless, let’s continue.

2. Elements that are common to the conclusion and at least one premise, or to two premises, normally do not appear in the correct answer. “Should not have (been) desired in the first place” appears in both the premise and the conclusion. This element is not likely to appear in the correct answer choice.

3. Elements that appear in the premises but not the conclusion normally appear in the correct answer. “Justifiably regretted” appears in the premise but not the conclusion. Only answer choices (B) and (D) contain “justifiably regretted.” Once you become used to examining the elements of the argument, the analysis above can be made very quickly.  The method also correctly reveals answer choice (D) as correct  with a minimum of effort.

This problem also contains conditional reasoning, and as such the argument can be diagrammed:

Premise:  Justifiably Regretted~Desire. Conclusion: ~many DesireForgone. This relationship is similar to the following: Premise: A B. 
 Conclusion:  B occurs. 
 Question:  What statement can be added to the argument above to conclude that B must follow?

Answer: A occurs. In this case, a few additional elements have been added to B in the conclusion, but we can add these elements to A and make the problem work. The term that would justify the conclusion in this problem is: many Justifiably RegrettedForgone. A comparison of this term and answer choice (D) reveals that the two are identical. If you are still uncertain, use the Justify Formula to eliminate each of the remaining answer choices. In reviewing Justify the Conclusion questions, you must recognize that each of the strategies described in this section are complementary. The approaches work because they all revolve around the undeniable truth of these questions: your answer, when combined with the premises, must justify the conclusion. Whether you see the conditional or numerical basis for the question or use the mechanistic approach is unimportant. The important part is that you quickly determine which answer has the components sufficient to prove the conclusion.

broall · Answer

Occurred: Regretted => shouldn't have desired in the first place.
Argument: 
many forgone pleasures: should not have been desired in the first place

It's clear that there is a missing link here: regretted. D conveys this link well. Hence D is the answer.

yousefalj · Answer

Can such a question come up in the exam? It requires mapping up certain abbreviations that make no sense to me.

nightblade354 · Answer

This type of question is actually a justify question, so you won't see this type, per se. That said, the mapping portion is always key for more difficult questions that are more abstract. A powerful lesson to be learned. So, yes and no to your question. But you should always be vigilante about questions and willing to diagram them if needed.

Taciturn03 · Answer

I'm having difficulty in deciphering the options. Everything tends to look similar. Please help!

zoezhuyan · Answer

dear experts, I can get this approach,
but I don't know how to apply this way to choice B, anyone can help?

nandeta · Answer

Arguement:   If you regret it if it occurred, then you should have not desired it in first place.
  Assumption:  : ?
  Conclusion:   Thus, many forgone pleasures should not have been desired.

A. One should  never  regret one’s pleasures. 
  "Never" is a very strong word and we should refrain from it. But from logical point of view, this statement is going completely opposite the argument and conclusion. Pleasure's should never have been desired and not regretted.

B. Forgone pleasures that were not desired would not have been justifiably regretted. 
  This is just saying the reverse of the argument. This is a trick answer and i fell for it. It is re-stating the argument only.

C. Everything  that one desires and then regrets not having is a forgone pleasure. 
  " Everything " is a strong word and we should refrain from it. This statement is describing the definition of a forgotten pleasure and not stating the assumption.

D. Many forgone pleasures would have been justifiably regretted.  
  If you see, this connect the argument and conclusion bridge.

E.  Nothing  that one should not have desired in the first place fails to be a pleasure. 
"Nothing" is an extreme word and we should refrain from it. And this is concluding the argument but in an opposite way.

kaladin123 · Answer

Finally understood the logic with the help of a diagram.

J.R. = Justifiable Regret | F.P. = Foregone Pleasure | D = Desired

Premise: If J.R. ---> Not D
Conc.: If F.P. ---> Not D

Missing Link: F.P. --> J.R.

Option D provides the missing link.

unraveled · Answer

If something would have been justifiably regretted if it had occurred, then it is something that one should not have desired in the first place. It follows that many forgone pleasures should not have been desired in the first place.

The conclusion above follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

A. One should  never  regret one’s pleasures. 
B. Forgone pleasures that were not desired would not have been justifiably regretted. 
C.  Everything  that one desires and then regrets not having is a forgone pleasure. 
D. Many forgone pleasures would have been justifiably regretted. 
E.  Nothing  that one should not have desired in the first place fails to be a pleasure.

Pure abstractness as it can be in a passage.
Fell for B after pendulating between B and D. B, however, takes the conclusion and proceeds in its own direction. Rather an assumption gives direction to the passage.

Question:
Can we eliminate based on the tense structure of the choice. For example - In A, 'should' states the directness of the choice. Similarly, C and E are also somewhat direct(in your kind of) in stating??

KarishmaB · Answer

Premises:   If something would have been justifiably regretted if it had occurred, then it is something that one should not have desired in the first place.

Conclusion:   Many forgone pleasures should not have been desired in the first place.

We need an assumption that will make the conclusion follow logically i.e. a sufficient assumption. Note that the premises do not even mention forgone pleasures while conlcusion concludes about forgone pleasures that they should not have been desired in the first place.
The only thing that the premises mention that they should not have been desired in the first place, is 'something that would have been justifiably regretted if it had occurred'.

Then many foregone pleasures must be something that would have been justifiably regretted if they had occurred. Only if we know this then will the conclusion logically follow. Pre-thinking is useful in assumption questions and especially useful in 'conclusion logically follow' i.e. in sufficient assumption questions.

Premises: If something is justifiably regretted, is should not be desired.
 Many foregone pleasures would have been justifiably regretted.

Conclusion: Hence, many foregone pleasures should not have been desired.

We are looking for the highlighted. If it is not available exactly as this, then we will worry about what else is available.

A. One should never regret one’s pleasures.

Out of scope. We are not even talking about 'foregone pleasures' here.

B. Forgone pleasures that were not desired would not have been justifiably regretted.

Here they are trying to confuse you by using the same words that we are looking for but putting them across in a jumble. Be clear about what you are looking for.

C. Everything that one desires and then regrets not having is a forgone pleasure.

What is a foregone pleasure is out of scope.

D. Many forgone pleasures would have been justifiably regretted.

Exactly what we were looking for. Answer.

E. Nothing that one should not have desired in the first place fails to be a pleasure.

Irrelevant

Answer (D)

vasu1104 · Answer

premise- if you regret something after it occured then you wouldnt have desired in the first place. 
 conclusion= many forgone pleasures should not have been desired in first place.

passage says that if you regret something after it occurred then you shouldnt have desired at first place. so conlusion is drawn that many forgone pleasures shouldnt have been desired. means they are assuming that those forgone pleasures were regretted that why they shouldnt have been desired.

A its not about not regretting pleasures.
B its actually the other way around.
C its going other way around
D this is the missing link and bridge the gap.
E if you dont desire in first place then it fails to be pleasure. but thats not point here.

If something would have been justifiably regretted if it had occurred

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