Historian: The early Egyptian pharaohs

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

TopicsRole

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Stimulus

Historian: The early Egyptian pharaohs spent as much wealth on largely ceremonial and hugely impressive architecture as they did on roads and irrigation systems. This was not mere frivolousness, however, for if people under a pharaoh's rule could be made to realize the extent their loyalty could be maintained without military coercion.

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

12.

The claim that early Egyptian expenditure on largely ceremonial architecture was not frivolous plays which one of the following roles

Answer choices

Correct79% picked this
It is a conclusion purportedly justified by the argument's appeal to the psychological effects of these structures
Why this is right
We're definitely on board with "It is a conclusion". Is it purportedly justified by an appeal to psychological effects? Well it's purportedly justified by the final claim. Is the final claim talking about the psychological effects of these impressive structures on the Egyptian population? Sure! It's suggesting that people would see these dope temples and pyramids and such and think, "Whoa -- my pharaoh has such mastery over the physical world, I must be lucky to be ruled by him. No need to force me to obey. I like having this masterful person in charge of us."
Skill tested: Role · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
79%
Wrong Role: support4% picked this
It is offered in support of the claim that Egyptian pharaohs spent as much on ceremonial architecture as they did
This identifies our claim as Supporting, but we know it's the Main Conclusion. It gets supported; it doesn't provide support.
4%
Wrong Role: premise13% picked this
It is a premise given in support of the claim that the loyalty of people under a pharaoh’s rule was maintained over
This identifies our claim as Supporting, but we know it's the Main Conclusion. It gets supported; it doesn't provide support.
13%
Wrong Role: illustration3% picked this
It is offered as an illustration of the principle that social and political stability do not
This identifies our claim as an illustration. Illustrations perform a supporting or clarifying role. This answer is acting like the main conclusion was that "social and political stability do not depend ultimately on force", which is not our conclusion and more importantly is not even a claim that ever gets made.
3%
Wrong Role: premise1% picked this
It is a premise used to justify the pharaohs' policy of spending scarce resources on structures that
This identifies our claim as Supporting, but we know it's the Main Conclusion. It gets supported; it doesn't provide support.
1%

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