Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Medium

PT137 S4 Q22 Explanation

Linguist: One group of art critics

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

TopicsRole

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Stimulus

Linguist: One group of art critics claims that postimpressionist paintings are not really art and so should be neither studied nor displayed. Another group of critics disagrees, insisting that these paintings are works of art. But since the second group grants that there are paintings that are not works of art and group, their disagreement is not over the meaning of the word "art."

What this question is testing

Role

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
22.

The claim that there are paintings that are not works of art plays which one of the following roles

Answer choices

  1. Contradiction13% picked this

    It is a contention that the argument purports to show is the main point of disagreement between the

    The two groups of critics actually agree on this point.

  2. Contradiction1% picked this

    It is cited as a commonly accepted reason for accepting a hypothesis for which the

    The argument does not offer independent evidence to support a hypothesis, but rather offers the fact that the claim is commonly accepted as evidence for the argument’s conclusion.

  3. Contradiction8% picked this

    It is a claim whose acceptance by critics who differ on other issues is cited by the argument

    The common acceptance of this claim is not offered in support of the truth of this claim but rather for another claim.

  4. Contradiction7% picked this

    It is a claim about the nature of art that according to the argument accounts for disputes that only appear to concern the aesthetic

    The claim does not account for disputes, since it is commonly accepted by both groups of critics.

  5. Correct71% picked this

    It is a claim whose acceptance by both of the two disputing parties is cited as evidence for a conclusion the

    Why this is right

    This correctly identifies the role of the claim as a premise used to support the argument’s conclusion.

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

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