It has been said that authors who write in order to give pleasure

Question

It has been said that authors who write in order to give pleasure cannot impart to their readers the truth of their subject matter. That claim cannot be true. If it were, one could determine the truthfulness of a book simply by looking at its sales figures. If the book were very popular, one could reasonably conclude that it gave people pleasure and therefore that at least some of what is written in the book is not true.

Which one of the following is an assumption required by the argument?

(A)  When people choose to read a book, they generally do not already know whether reading it will give them pleasure.

(B)  Even when an author writes with the goal of giving people pleasure, that goal will not necessarily be achieved.

(C)  In many cases, a book's readers are unconcerned about the truth of the book's contents.

(D)  A book will not give its readers pleasure  unless it was intended by its author to have  that effect.

(E)  A book can be popular for reasons other than  its ability to give readers pleasure.

LSAT

nishantd88 · Accepted Answer

The reasoning clearly proceeds by the contrapositive, where the author concludes that X cannot be true, because if it were true, then Y would also be true. The tone of the author implies that Y is weird and not true.

The conclusion is that the claim in the first sentence is not true, or in other words, authors who intend to impart pleasure can also impart the truth. If that was not the case, the author argues, then books that impart pleasure would be partly untrue. Since sales, popularity and pleasure tend to correlate, the more sales a book has, the more popular it is and hence, the less “truth” such a book would impart. So we could determine the truthfulness of a book just by looking at its sales figures, which the author clearly believes is weird and not true.

The author basically states the weirdness of a situation to argue that the intention of imparting pleasure is consistent with the ability to impart truth.

(A)  When people choose to read a book, they generally do not already know whether reading it will give them pleasure.   The opposite of this statement is an assumption. The author has assumed that sales correlates to popularity and hence pleasure. So people buy only when they know the book will give them pleasure.

(B)  Even when an author writes with the goal of giving people pleasure, that goal will not necessarily be achieved.   Out of context. There is no discussion about how successful authors are in achieving their goal.

(C)  In many cases, a book's readers are unconcerned about the truth of the book's contents.   Out of context. We are not discussing if readers are bothered about the truth or not.

(D)  A book will not give its readers pleasure  unless it was intended by its author to have  that effect.  This option is quite interesting. I initially opted for it just by eliminating the others without even thinking through it. The conclusion is about "authors who write in order to give pleasure". But the reasoning about sales of books and popularity is general and not restricted to just "authors who write in order to give pleasure". So the two of them will tie together only when it is assumed that only authors who intend to give pleasure will give pleasure. Other authors will not.

(E)  A book can be popular for reasons other than  its ability to give readers pleasure.    The opposite of this statement is an assumption. The author has assumed that sales correlates to popularity and hence pleasure. So popularity implies pleasure for the readers.

monk123 · Answer

It has been said that authors who write in order to give pleasure cannot impart to their readers the truth of their subject matter. That claim cannot be true. If it were, one could determine the truthfulness of a book simply by looking at its sales figures. If the book were very popular, one could reasonably conclude that it gave people pleasure and therefore that at least some of what is written in the book is not true.

Which one of the following is an assumption required by the argument?

(A) When  people choose  to read a book, they generally do not already know whether reading it will give them pleasure.  -  Out of scope ( we are talking about not about what people choose to read)

(B) Even when an  author writes with the goal  of giving people pleasure, that goal will not necessarily be achieved. -  Out of scope (authors goal has not been discussed)

(C) In  many  cases, a book's readers are unconcerned about the truth of the book's contents. -  Extreme Language

(D) A book will not give its readers pleasure  unless it was intended by its author to have  that effect. -   CORRECT

(E) A book can be popular for  reasons  other than  its ability to give readers pleasure. -  Out of scope (reasons are not discussed)

ironman_97 · Answer

Complete Question Explanation 
 https://forum.powerscore.com/viewtopic.php?t=8291#:~:text=So%2C%20the%20original%20claim%20cannot,were%20intended%20to%20impart%20pleasure.

Assumption. The correct answer choice is (D)

This challenging question follows a classic structure found in many arguments on the LSAT, that of "Some people say something, but they're wrong, and here's why." What makes this one particularly challenging is that the author is arguing against a conditional claim, which means that the author is trying to show that a condition that someone else thinks is necessary is not actually necessary. It's important to recognize in this scenario that the author isn't trying to prove that the opposite condition is required, but only that the alleged necessary condition is not actually necessary.

Here, the author is trying to prove that books that are intended to give pleasure do NOT have to lack truth. Getting rid of that double negative, that means she is arguing that it is possible for such a book to impart truth. Not necessary - just that it is possible.

The author's premises make the case that such a claim about popular books is absurd (and see Nikki's explanation below in this thread for some elaboration on that point). To paraphrase the argument, the author is saying "this cannot possibly be true about all popular books, so it cannot be true of all books that are intended to give pleasure."

In any Assumption question we are looking either for a gap between the premises and the conclusion (a Supporter Assumption), or else we are trying to identify a weakness and then pick the answer that eliminates that weakness (a Defender Assumption.) When there is a gap, we know that the author believes that the premises are sufficient to prove the conclusion. If the premises are true, the author assumes that the conclusion must follow from them.

In this case, there is a gap, because the premises are about popular books, which are claimed to actually give some pleasure, and the conclusion is about books that are intended to give pleasure. The missing link between the premises and the conclusion is between the concepts of actually giving pleasure and the author intending to give pleasure. So we should be looking for an answer that says, in essence, "if a book gives pleasure (the information from the premise), then it must have been intended to do so (the new or "rogue" element in the conclusion)."

Answer choice (A): This answer does not connect the ideas of actual pleasure and intent to give pleasure, and so it does not close the gap in the argument.

Answer choice (B): This answer could be attractive, because it talks about both intent and results, but it is something like a Mistaken Negation of our prephrase, made worse by the fact that it is only about what happens sometimes rather than a true conditional claim that is about what happens every time.

Answer choice (C): As this answer does not address the issue of pleasure, either intended or actually achieved, it cannot close the gap between our author's premises and her conclusion.

Answer choice (D): this is the correct answer choice because it presents the contrapositive of our prephrase, and a contrapositive is logically equivalent to the original form of the statement. It is just as good to say "if not intended, then no pleasure" as it is to say "if pleasure, then intent."

Answer choice (E): While this answer does address something to do with pleasure, it fails to connect intentions to results, which must be done in order to close the gap in the argument.

MartyMurray · Answer

It has been said that authors who write in order to give pleasure cannot impart to their readers the truth of their subject matter. That claim cannot be true. If it were, one could determine the truthfulness of a book simply by looking at its sales figures. If the book were very popular, one could reasonably conclude that it gave people pleasure and therefore that at least some of what is written in the book is not true.

The conclusion of the argument is the following:

That claim (that authors who write in order to give pleasure cannot impart to their readers the truth of their subject matter) cannot be true.

The support for the conclusion is the following:

If it were, one could determine the truthfulness of a book simply by looking at its sales figures. If the book were very popular, one could reasonably conclude that it gave people pleasure and therefore that at least some of what is written in the book is not true.

We see that the reasoning of the argument is basically the following:

If the claim were true, then one could tell how truthful a book is by merely considering how popular it is because a popular book must give people pleasure. So, if the claim were true, at least some of what's written in any popular book could not be true. Therefore, the claim must not be true.

That reasoning involves the unstated implication that the idea that one could tell how truthful a book is by merely considering its popularity is ridiculous or clearly incorrect.

So, the basic outline of the argument is that since, if the claim were true, something ridiculous or clearly incorrect would be true, the claim cannot be true.

Which one of the following is an assumption required by the argument?

This question is a Necessary Assumption question, and the correct answer will be the choice that must be true for the argument to work.

(A) When people choose to read a book, they generally do not already know whether reading it will give them pleasure.

The argument involves the idea that "sales figures" indicate whether a book "gave people pleasure."

In the context of that idea, "sales figures" can be the result of people buying a book because they "choose to read it" because they already know that reading it will give them pleasure.

So, in the context of the argument, it's possible that, when people choose to read a book they DO already know that reading it will give them pleasure.

So, the argument does not require the assumption that, "When people choose to read a book, they generally DO NOT already know whether reading it will give them pleasure."

Eliminate.

(B) Even when an author writes with the goal of giving people pleasure, that goal will not necessarily be achieved.

The point of the argument is basically that it's not the case that, to write to give people pleasure, authors cannot impart the truth of their subject matter.

Notice that, if it were the case that, when an author writes with the goal of giving people pleasure, that goal WILL necessarily be achieved, then it would clearly clearly not be true that, to write to give people pleasure, authors cannot impart the truth of their subject matter.

After all, if the goal of giving pleasure were necessarily, i.e., always, met when an author writes with that goal, then that goal would be met even if writers DID impart the truth of their subject matter.

So, the opposite of this choice supports the conclusion of the argument.

Thus, this choice must not state an assumption required by the argument.

Eliminate.

(C) In many cases, a book's readers are unconcerned about the truth of the book's contents.

The point of the argument is basically that a writer does not have to be untruthful to write a book that gives pleasure.

Notice that, if readers are CONCERNED about the truth of a book's contents, they may get pleasure more easily from a book that is truthful than from a book that is untruthful.

So, even if a book's readers are NOT unconcerned about the truth of a book's contents, the argument still works fine. After all, in that case, an author may be able to write to give pleasure by being truthful and thus pleasing readers who are concerned with the truth.

So, this choice does not have to be true for the argument to work.

Eliminate.

(D) A book will not give its readers pleasure unless it was intended by its author to have that effect.

This choice is interesting.

The conclusion is basically that authors don't have to be untruthful in order to write to give pleasure.

The support for the conclusion is some general statements about "popular" books such that one can "reasonably conclude" that they "gave people pleasure."

So, notice that, for that general information about books that "gave people pleasure" to support the conclusion about what writers must do in order to write to give pleasure, it must be the case that books that "gave people pleasure" were written by writers who were writing in such a way as to give pleasure.

After all, if books can give pleasure without writers writing in such a way as to give pleasure, then evidence about books that give pleasure may not be connected to a conclusion about what writers must do to write to give pleasure.

So, the argument requires the general assumption that books that "gave people pleasure" came from writers writing in order to give pleasure, and this choice is another way of saying that.

Keep.

(E) A book can be popular for reasons other than its ability to give readers pleasure.

The argument says the following:

If the book were very popular, one could reasonably conclude that it gave people pleasure

Notice that, reasonably concluding from that fact that a book is "very popular" that it "gave people pleasure" requires the assumption that giving people pleasure, and not something else, is what makes a book popular.

After all, if "a book can be popular for reasons other than its ability to give readers pleasure," then it doesn't make sense to conclude from the fact that a book is popular that it gave people pleasure. After all, if a book can be popular for other reasons, then it could be for another reason, and not because it gave pleasure, that it's popular.

So, this choice states the opposite of something assumed by the argument since concluding that a book "gave people pleasure" from the fact that it is "very popular" requires the assumption that a book CANNOT be popular for reasons other than its ability to give readers pleasure.

Eliminate.

Correct answer:   D

GMATGuruNY · Answer

Note the following:
 No A unless B  means  If A, then B .

J  ohn cannot be in Times Square unless he is in New York City. 
Rephrased as an if-then statement:
 If John is in Times Square, then John is in New York City. 
 
This argument exhibits a common flaw: a shift in language.

It has been said that authors who write in order to give pleasure cannot impart to their readers the truth of their subject matter. 
In short:
  written to give pleasure  --> lack of truth

The autbor is concerned that the statement above, if true, leads to the following nonsensical result:
 If a book were very popular, one could reasonably conclude that it gave people pleasure and therefore that at least some of what is written in the book is not true. 
In short:
 popular -->  gives pleasure  --> lack of truth

There is a shift in language between the red portion and the blue portion.
For the author's concern to be justified, there must be a link between the two colored portions, as follows:
  popular -->   gives pleasure   -->     written to give pleasure     --> lack of truth

Only option D provides the required link: 
  A book will not give its readers pleasure unless it was intended by its author to have that effect.  
 Rephrased as an if-then statement: 
  If a book   gives pleasure  , then the book was   intended to give pleasure  .  
This option provides the necessary link between the blue portion and the red portion.
In other words, it provides the ASSUMPTION that must be true for the argument to hold.

D

gullyboy09 · Answer

Hi  MartyMurray , many thanks for the below explanation but I am still a bit confused and not able to fully understand why D. My query is that rather having every book that give pleasure to be intended, "at least some books that give pleasure were intended to give pleasure" would be enough right? I am not able to see why we need every book to be intended.

guddo · Answer

It has been said that authors who write in order to give pleasure cannot impart to their readers the truth of their subject matter. That claim cannot be true. If it were, one could determine the truthfulness of a book simply by looking at its sales figures. If the book were very popular, one could reasonably conclude that it gave people pleasure and therefore that at least some of what is written in the book is not true.
 
 Which one of the following is an assumption required by the argument?

The argument says the claim must be false because, if it were true, then popularity (sales) would let you infer a book gives pleasure and then infer some of it is not true. For that last step to work, the argument needs a link from “gives pleasure” to “was written to give pleasure.”

(A) When people choose to read a book, they generally do not already know whether reading it will give them pleasure.

This is about what readers know before reading. The argument does not use that.

(B) Even when an author writes with the goal of giving people pleasure, that goal will not necessarily be achieved.

The argument does not rely on authors failing to achieve their goal.

(C) In many cases, a book's readers are unconcerned about the truth of the book's contents.

Reader concern is irrelevant to the inference from popularity to truthfulness.

(D) A book will not give its readers pleasure unless it was intended by its author to have that effect.

This is required. The claim being attacked is about authors who write to give pleasure. But the argument’s evidence point is “the book gave people pleasure.”  To apply the claim, it must assume that if a book gives people pleasure, then the author intended it to give pleasure.

(E) A book can be popular for reasons other than its ability to give readers pleasure.

This would weaken the step from popularity to pleasure, not support it, and it is not the needed bridge to author intention anyway.

Answer: (D)

MartyMurray · Answer

Let's consider the following statements from the passage:

If it were, one could determine the truthfulness of a book simply by looking at its sales figures. If the book were very popular, one could reasonably conclude that it gave people pleasure and therefore that at least some of what is written in the book is not true.

Notice that those statements are about ANY book. In other words, "one could determine the truthfulness of A book," means "one could determine the truthfulness of ANY book."

So, the author's point is indeed about EVERY book that gives pleasure, not just some.

After all, if only some books that give pleasure were intended to give pleasure, then others would not have been intended by their authors to give pleasure. In that case, those others could be completely true, meaning that the author's point that "one could determine the truthfulness of a book simply by looking at its sales figures," would not hold.

It has been said that authors who write in order to give pleasure

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It has been said that authors who write in order to give pleasure

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