Logical reasoning PrepTest 106 · Section 1 · Question 19

Question prompt

The postmodern view involves Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Argument or Facts

Argument

Valid or Flawed

Flawed

Question Type

Errors in Reasoning Questions

Stimulus Summary

A whole bunch of confusing stuff about views/theories/beliefs that say there is no truth. Therefore, we live in a world without truths.

Answer Anticipation

These arguments that get all abstract and philosophical can be really hard to wrap our heads around. Luckily, if we know the elements of arguments that make up common flaws, we can avoid all of that messiness!
This argument is filled with language that suggests a specific flaw - the Perception vs. Reality flaw. The opening premise is about the postmodern view - that’s not an established fact, it’s a viewpoint. It then goes on to the grand theories of the era - same thing. Finally, it talks about how a belief in order has faded away - that belief is, you got it, subjective. Whenever an argument has subjective premises/a conclusion, you should check for this flaw.
The Perception vs. Reality flaw is present when an argument uses what is believed to be true to establish what is true (or vice versa). The premises here are about beliefs, so let’s check the conclusion to see if it’s about reality. And it is - explicitly! It concludes that we live in a world reflecting these beliefs - irregular events, no universal truths. So the argument is using premises about philosophical beliefs to establish a conclusion about the real world. Let’s find the Perception vs. Reality answer choice.

Answer choices

  1. A
    infers that something is Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem
    This answer describes a Perception (“believed to be the case”) vs. Reality (“is the case”), so it’s the correct answer.
  2. B
    uses the term "universal" Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    If you can’t state two different definitions for a word claimed to be used ambiguously, then this answer is incorrect. Here, universal is used in both instances to mean applying in all cases.
  3. C
    relies on the use Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Maybe “chaos” could be said to be an emotional term? The stimulus here uses high-level philosophical terms, but that’s not the same as appealing to emotions. When the latter is the case, there will usually be explicit language suggesting emotions, or a story that tugs on the heartstrings.
  4. D
    uses the term "order" Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Similar to (B), there aren’t two definitions of “order” used here. In both cases, it’s being used to talk about things making sense/being regular and not being chaotic.
  5. E
    fails to cite examples Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    The argument makes a general claim about these theories as a premise, so it doesn’t need to provide examples of that claim. Premises can be offered without support!

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A Credited 79%
  2. B 9%
  3. C 3%
  4. D 6%
  5. E 2%

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