Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT135 S2 Q12 Explanation

No matter how conscientious they are

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

TopicsFlaw

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Full official LSAT questions are available through LawHub. This page provides LSAT Lab's explanation, strategy, and review tools without republishing the full official question.

Stimulus

No matter how conscientious they are, historians always have biases that affect their work. Hence, rather than trying to interpret historical events, historians should instead interpret what the events thought about those events.

What this question is testing

Flaw

Your task

Describe the reasoning error the argument actually commits.

Common trap

Answers that name a real logical flaw the argument doesn't actually make.

Winning move

Articulate the gap in the reasoning yourself, then match it to the choice that describes that 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
12.

The reasoning in the argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that the argument fails to

Answer choices

  1. Too Weak9% picked this

    historians who have different biases often agree about many aspects of

    Often agreeing about many aspects of some historical events is not strong enough to indicate that their interpretation of historical events is accurate.

  2. Out of Scope1% picked this

    scholars in disciplines other than history also risk having their biases

    Scholars in disciplines other than history are not relevant to this argument.

  3. Premise Support1% picked this

    many of the ways in which historians' biases affect their work

    This does not undermine the argument, but rather supports a premise in the argument.

  4. Out of Scope4% picked this

    not all historians are aware of the effect that their particular biases have

    The argument does not assume that all historians are aware of the effect that their particular biases have on their work.

  5. Correct85% picked this

    the proposed shift in focus is unlikely to eliminate the effect that historians' biases have

    Why this is right

    This points out that bias will affect the historians work either way.

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

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