Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT107 S3 Q12 Explanation

Music critic: Some people argue

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

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Stimulus

Music critic: Some people argue that, unlike certain works of Handel, which set to music familiar religious texts, the organ symphonies of Louis Vieme are not religious music. Quite the contrary. Sitting in Notre Dame cathedral symphonies demonstrates that Vierne’s works are divinely inspired.

What this question is testing

Flaw

Opposing View

Some critics say: Handel's music sets actual religious texts to music, so it counts as religious music. Vierne's organ symphonies don't set religious texts, so they don't.

Conclusion

The music critic disagrees: hearing Vierne's symphonies in Notre Dame shows they are divinely inspired.

Evaluate

The two camps are using "religious" in different senses. The opposing camp uses it in a textual/liturgical sense — does the music set religious words? The critic switches to an experiential sense — does the music feel inspired by the divine?

That's a slippery move. Showing that music feels divinely inspired doesn't show it sets religious texts. To rebut the original claim, the critic needs to address the same sense of "religious" the opposing view used. Instead, the critic swaps in a more flattering definition.

Goal

Find an answer that calls out the equivocation — the two different meanings of "religious."

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
12.

The music critic’s reasoning is vulnerable to criticism on the ground

Answer choices

  1. Bad Assumption11% picked this

    takes for granted that all religious music

    The argument doesn't depend on the assumption that all religious music is inspiring. The critic's move is to claim Vierne's music demonstrates divine inspiration. Whether all religious music is inspiring is irrelevant — even if some religious music is dull, the critic's reasoning has the same structural problem (equivocation on "religious").

  2. Correct58% picked this

    confuses two different meanings of the

    Why this is right

    This nails the flaw. The opposing view used "religious" in a textual/liturgical sense (Handel sets religious texts; Vierne does not, so Vierne's aren't "religious music" in that sense). The critic's rebuttal switches to a different sense — divinely inspired, experiential — and concludes Vierne's works are religious music in that other sense. The argument's force depends on treating "religious" as a single concept across the swap, but it isn't. That's equivocation between two meanings of the term.

    Skill tested: Flaw · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

  3. Bad Objection22% picked this

    overlooks the possibility that some organ music is not

    The argument is about whether Vierne's organ symphonies are religious music — not whether organ music in general is divinely inspired. Even granting that some organ music isn't divinely inspired, the argument's actual problem is the shift in meaning of "religious," not an overgeneralization about organ music.

  4. Bad Description1% picked this

    confuses two different meanings of the

    "Symphonies" is used consistently throughout the argument — both speakers refer to Vierne's organ symphonies as instrumental musical works. The shifty word is "religious," not "symphonies."

  5. Bad Assumption8% picked this

    takes for granted that all organ symphonies are

    The argument doesn't assume all organ symphonies are religious music. The critic only argues this about Vierne's organ symphonies. Whether other organ symphonies count as religious is outside the argument's scope, and the actual flaw is the shift in meaning of "religious," not a sweeping generalization.

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