Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT126 S3 Q1 Explanation

Aristophanes' play The Clouds

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

TopicsParadox

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Stimulus

Aristophanes' play The Clouds, which was written when the philosopher Socrates was in his mid-forties, portrays Socrates as an atheistic philosopher primarily concerned with issues in natural science. The only other surviving portrayals of Socrates were written after Socrates' death at age religious dimension and a strong focus on ethical issues.

What this question is testing

Paradox

Your task

Break the argument into its conclusion and evidence, then do exactly what the question stem asks with that structure.

Common trap

Answers that sound relevant to the topic but don't connect to the argument's actual reasoning.

Winning move

Predict what a right answer must do, then test each choice against the conclusion-evidence gap.

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

The question
1.

Which one of the following, if true, would most help to resolve the apparent discrepancy between Aristophanes' portrayal of Socrates and

Answer choices

  1. Out of Scope1% picked this

    Aristophanes' portrayal of Socrates in The Clouds was unflattering, whereas the other portrayals

    Whether or not a portrayal is flattering has no bearing on whether it was accurate or why the two accounts differed with respect to Socrates philosophical views and interests.

  2. Correct94% picked this

    Socrates' philosophical views and interests changed sometime after

    Why this is right

    This describes the first of the two predicted explanations.

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

  3. Out of Scope2% picked this

    Most of the philosophers who lived before Socrates were primarily concerned

    This might explain why Socrates was interested in natural science earlier in his life, but it does not explain the later portrayals of Socrates.

  4. Wrong Discrepancy2% picked this

    Socrates was a much more controversial figure in the years before his death than he

    If the portrayals of Socrates in his mid-forties were all similar, while the portrayals later in his life were divergent, this might explain such a distinction.

  5. Out of Scope1% picked this

    Socrates had an influence on many subsequent philosophers who were primarily concerned

    Socrates’ influence on subsequent philosophers does not explain the divergent portrayals of his philosophical views and interests.

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