PT108.S1.P2.Q14

PrepTest 108 - Section 1 - Passage 2 - Question 14

Hide analysis
P1

In recent years, a growing belief that the way society decides what to treat as true is controlled through largely unrecognized discursive practices has led legal reformers to examine the complex interconnections between narrative and law. ██ ████ █████ ████████ █████ █████████ ███ █████ ██ █████████ ███████ █████ ███████ ███████ ██████ █████████ █████ ███████ ██████ ███ ██████ ████ ████████ ████ ███████ ██ ████ ███ ██████ ██████ ██ ██████ ███

Context · How do we decide what is true or false?
Legal systems use competing narratives about events; judges and juries assign "truth"
████ █████████ ██ ██████ ██ ████████████ █ █████████████ ████████ ████ ███ █████████ ████ ███████ █████ ███ ████████████ ███████ ███ ██████████ ███████████ █████ ████ █████ ██ █ ██████ ███████ ███████████ ██ ████ █████ ████ ██ ████████ ██ ███ ██████████ █████ ██ ████ ███ ████ ███ █ ██████████ ████████ ████ ███ █████ █████████ ███
Introduce concept · Objectivism
The "objective" view is neutral, unbiased, and more reliable than other views
███ █████ █████ ███ ██████ ██████████ ████████ ██ ████████ ████ █████████ ████████████ ███ ███ ████ █████ ████ ██████ █████████ ██ ███████ ██ ████ █████ ████████ ███████ █████████ ███
Apply concept · of objectivism to legal "truth"
Truth is found in an objective view of events
███ ███████ ████ ██ ███████████ ██ ████ █████ ██ ██ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████████ █████████ █████████ ███
Criticism · No one holds an objective view
██ █████████████ ████ █████████████ ███ █████████ █████ ██ █ █████████ █ ███ ██ █████████████ ███████ ███ ███████ ████ █████████ ████ ███ █████████ ███ ████ ██ ███ ███ █████ ███ ███████████ █████████ ██ ███ ████ █████ ████ ████ █████████ ███████ ███████ ████ █████████ █████ ███████ ████ ██████ ████ █████ ███████ ███████████ ███ ██████ █████ ███████ ████ ███ █████████ ████ █████ ████ ██ ███ ██████ ███
Support criticism · According to psychologists, everyone holds biases
█████ █████ ██ █████ ███ ██████ ██ ████ ██ ██ ███ ████ █████████ ███████████ ██ ████ ██████████ █████████ █████ ██ █████ ████████████ ███████ ███ ████████

Author's perspective · Legal views are subjective, not objective
P2

███ ████████ ████ ██████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██ ███████████ ██████████ ██ ███████████ █████ █████████ ██ █████ █████████████ ███ ███████ ██████ ██ ██ ███████████ ████ ███ █████ ████ ██ ██████ ███ ███ ███████ ██ █████ ██████████ █████ ███ ███████ ██ █████ ███ ███ ███ ██████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ ███ ███ ███ ████████ ██ ██████

Problem · Objectivist assumptions favor those with legal training
Accounts by those who understand the law are (wrongly) seen as objective and true; others accounts are (wrongly) seen as false
P3

█████ ████████ ████ ██ ████████ █████████ ███████ █████ ███ ████ ███████ ████ ██████ ███████████ ███ ███ ██████ █████ ██ ██████ ███████ ███ ████████████ ██ ███████████ █████ ███████████ ███

Solution · according to some legal scholars
Alternative legal narratives
███████████ █████ █████████ ██████████████ █████████ ███ ████████ ██ ███████ ███ ██████████ ██ ████████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ █████████ ██████ █████ █████ █████████ ███████ █████████ ████ ████████ █████████ ████ ████████ ████████ ████████ ███
Explain solution · Replace abstract objectivist discourse with personal narratives
████ █████ ████ ███ ██████████ ██████████████ █████████ ███ ████ ██ ████████ ███████ ███ ████████ █████ ████████ ███ ███ █████ ████ ██ ██████ ██ █████ ███ ██████ ██ █████ █████████ ███ ██████████ █████ ██ ████████ █████████ ███ ██████ █ █████ ██ ███████ ███████ █████ ████████ ███ ██████ █████████████ ████████ ████ █████ █████████ ████ ██████ ████ ██████ ███
Support solution · Personal stories elicit empathy
████ ███████████ ██████████ ███ ███████ ███ ███████████ ██ ███ █████ █████████████ ███ ███████ ███ ████████████ █████ ███ ████████ █████ ██ █████████ █████ ████ █ ████████ ████████ ████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ █████ ██████████████ ██ ██████████ ███████████ ██ ██████████ ███ ████████ ███ ███████ █ ███ ████████████ █████ ██ █████████ ████████

Implications of solution · Disruption of status quo, less advantage bestowed by legal training, emphasis on empathy
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Problem-analysis
Show answer
14.

The passage suggests that Williams, █████ ███ ███████ █████ ████ ██████ █████ ████ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██████████ █████████ ████████ ████████

a

Personal stories are ████ ██████ ██ ██████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██ ███████████ ████ ███ █████ █████ ██ ██████████

We have no reason to think the scholars believe personal stories adhere at all to the principles of objectivism. Objectivism involves a neutral description of events rather than subjective experiences.

1%
b

Personal stories are ████ ██████ ██ ███████████ ███████████ ██ ██████████ ███ ████████ ████ ███ ███████████ █████ ██ █████ ██████████

Supported. The scholars believe personal stories can help empower people who aren’t trained in the language of law.

79%
c

Personal stories are ████ ██████ ██ ███████ ███████████ ██ ███ █████ █████████████ ████ ███ ████ ███████████ █████ ██ ██████████

Not supported, because the author suggests personal stories can disturb the tranquility of law. So we have no reason to think the scholars believe personal stories will be more likely to bring tranquility.

4%
d

Personal stories are ████ ██████ ██ ████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████████████ ██ █████ ████ ███ ███████████ █████ ██ █████ ██████████

We have no reason to think the scholars believe personal stories are more likely to lead to accurate reconstruction of facts. None of the points they make in P4 regarding personal narratives relates to getting a more accurate understanding of facts.

7%
e

Personal stories are ████ ██████ ██ ██ ██████████ ██ █ ████████ █████████████ ███████ ███ ███████ ████ ███ █████ █████ ██ ██████████

The author mentions that all observers bring a set of “expectations, values, and beliefs” that determine what they can see and hear. So we know that these things can influence what is observed. We have no evidence the scholars believe that these things are more likely to influence personal stories than they are to influence other kinds of discourse. We don’t get any mention of the scholars’ belief concerning what influences personal stories, nor do we get a comparison of that influence to all other kinds of discourse.

8%

Answer five questions and we'll estimate your score.

It takes about five minutes.

Take the free diagnostic
More free LSAT prep: Sample LSAT questions Full-length diagnostic & practice test All free LSAT resources

Confirm action

Are you sure?