LSAT 158 – Section 2 – Question 16

LSAT 158 - Section 2 - Question 16

May 2020

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT158 S2 Q16
+LR
Resolve reconcile or explain +RRE
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
6%
153
B
2%
147
C
83%
162
D
9%
151
E
0%
147
138
146
154
 +Medium 146.031 +SubsectionMedium

Historians have found that significant intellectual advances generally occur in cities or countries that have a stable political system. But these same historians acknowledge that in ancient Athens, Plato and Aristotle made unparalleled intellectual progress during a period of great political and social unrest.

"Surprising" Phenomenon
What explains why ancient Athens experienced a lot of intellectual progress during a period of great political and social unrest, even though such progress typically occurs in cities or countries with a stable political system?

Objective
The correct answer should tell us something about ancient Athens that differentiates it from normal cities/countries in a way that could be helpful for intellectual progress even in times of political instability.

A
The political systems that have emerged since the time of Plato and Aristotle have in various ways been different from the political system in ancient Athens.
(A) just tells us that other political systems have been different from the one present in ancient Athens. But we have no reason to think there was anything about ancient Athens’ political system that allowed for intellectual progress in the absence of stability.
B
The citizens of ancient Athens generally held in high esteem people who were accomplished intellectually.
This doesn’t help differentiate ancient Athens from other cities/countries. Also, we have no reason to think that holding intellectually-accomplished people in high esteem would somehow allow for intellectual progress in times of instability.
C
Financial support for intellectual endeavors is typically unavailable in unstable political environments, but in ancient Athens such support was provided by wealthy citizens.
This shows how ancient Athens was different from the typical city/country in a way that helped intellectual progress. Intellectual activities had a source of money in Athens that, for others, wasn’t available in unstable times. This could have helped intellectual progress.
D
Significant intellectual advances sometimes, though not always, lead to stable political environments.
Even if intellectual advances lead to stability, how was ancient Athens able to achieve those intellectual advances when there was no stability? Learning what intellectual advances lead to doesn’t help explain how those advances could have come about in the first place.
E
Many thinkers besides Plato and Aristotle contributed to the intellectual achievements of ancient Athens.
We still don’t know why ancient Athens was able to make intellectual progress during a period of instability. The number of other famous philosophers and scientists has no bearing on what makes ancient Athens an exception to the general rule about the conditions for progress.

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LSAT PrepTest 158 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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