Logical reasoning PrepTest 113 · Section 3 · Question 18

Question prompt

Not all works of Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: C

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

Representation is aesthetically relevant, but it depends on context.
Context can’t be determined just by looking at the object.
So there can’t be clear criteria for determining if something is art.

Answer Anticipation

This question falls into a common content category of LSAT questions - the abstract idea/philosophy question. They generally show up right around here in the section as they’re almost always very difficult. But there’s also something else true of them that can help us - they almost always deal with links between abstract ideas, so if we can trace those ideas, we can find the gap in the reasoning.
When there are a lot of conditional statements, or things approaching conditional statements, we can frame the stimulus that way. When there aren’t, we should start with the conclusion and work backwards. This one falls more into the latter camp.
In this conclusion, it states that there can’t be clear criteria for determining if something is art. Why not? Because a jumble of ideas that are all linked - representation, aesthetics, context - can’t be determined by looking at the object itself. So the premises establish that we can’t determine context or representation by looking at the object itself, and those are related to aesthetics, but does that mean we can’t determine if an object is art?
To know that, we’d have to know what needs to be known to determine if something is art. As with many arguments that reach a judgment in the conclusion, this argument is missing a principle that links the details in the premise to that judgment. It’s assuming that being unable to determine context/representation in an object means you can’t objectively determine if it’s art. The question stem asks us to find an answer pointing out something the argument fails to consider, and so we should look for an answer stating that something other than representation/context can be looked at to determine whether something is art.

Answer choices

  1. A
    because some works of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    The argument is about determining whether objects are art, so this answer that’s about things we already know are art is out of scope.
  2. B
    an object may have Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    The argument, boiled down, is that we can’t tell if an object has certain aesthetic properties, so we can’t objectively determine if something is art. Objects with aesthetic properties that aren’t art doesn’t create problems for an argument that is wondering if we can objectively assess art - in fact, in stating that not all things with aesthetic properties are art, this answer raises the possibility that we should be trying to determine whether something is art.
  3. C
    aesthetically relevant properties other Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    This answer reflects a possibility that creates problems for the argument and that it failed to consider. While we may not be able to determine if an object features representation just by looking at the object itself, and thus we can’t determine if an object is a work of art using that test, there may be other things we can look for that are a part of the object itself that would determine it’s art.
  4. D
    some works of art Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Looking at any object should reveal that it has certain properties, and yet the argument still believes that we can’t do that to have a test for whether an object is art. Thus, the argument must assume that there are some qualities that aren’t related to aesthetics, and thus this answer states something that aligns with the argument, not something it overlooks.
  5. E
    some objects that represent Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Representation is a relevant feature of art that has it, but that doesn’t mean anything with representation is art. That’s like saying bread is a relevant feature of sandwiches, and then concluding that anything with bread is a sandwich - Thanksgiving stuffing would beg to differ!

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 7%
  2. B 7%
  3. C Credited 69%
  4. D 13%
  5. E 4%

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Discussion

  • Why not A? 2 replies

    Started by lerondagates

  • C 2 replies

    Started by ariella

  • Hey Guys 1 reply

    Started by Derek

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