In conversation, the words “principle” and “ideal” are often used interchangeably. However, the two are not synonyms. An "ideal" is a perfect situation, whereas a "principle" simply refers to a rule or a guideline -- no ideal necessarily exists. Additionally, people often associate principles with moral or ethical principles. However, not all principles are attached to morals or ethics. Keeping the exact definition of the term "principle" can assist you in doing LSAT principle questions. First, do not attempt to find a perfect situation -- an ideal -- when dealing with LSAT principle questions. Second, do not attach any moral or ethical reasoning when doing LSAT principle questions, i.e., do not search your moral intuition for an answer.

Additionally, you will likely find it beneficial to distinguish among the different ways the LSAT asks about principles. LSAT principle questions may be categorized as the following:

Identify Principle: Specific situation provided in the passage with the question asking which principle guides the reasoning. Identify the principle and state it in your own words, then go to the choices. As examples, see LSAT PrepTest 48, Section 1, Question 11, or LSAT PrepTest 50, Section 4, Question 3.

Apply Principle: General principle provided in the passage with the question asking which specific situation conforms to that principle. To do this type of question, first determine exactly what the principle is. You may need to dig through the paragraph and ignore excess information within the passage. Second, apply the principle to each choice, looking for which choices violate the principle, rather than trying to justify how choices might conform. For examples, see LSAT PrepTest 48, Section 1, Question 4, and LSAT PrepTest 48, Section 4, Question 6.

Support Argument with Principle: Argument provided in the passage with the question asking which principle would support the argument. For many people, working with general language is the difficult part, not necessarily analyzing the argument. See LSAT PrepTest 48, Section 1, Questions 9 and 18 examples. Avoid choosing choices that provide ideals that the authors would probably hold -- focus on the argument. See LSAT PrepTest 47, Section 1, Question 3.

Parallel Principles: Specific situation provided in the passage with the question asking which specific situation conforms to the principle illustrated in the passage. Treat these as a combination of Identify and Apply Principle questions: First, you must identify the principle within the original passage, then state that principle in your own words. Next, apply that principle to each choice, focusing on which choices are incorrect, rather than trying to find which choice is correct by finding ways to justify the choice. See LSAT PrepTest 50, Section 2, Question 23.