PT22.S1.Q25 (P4) - what it means to "explain" something

Judyyyyy

Can anyone help me with this reading comprehension question? I can't see why (D) is incorrect. The way I interpreted this passage, the author was illustrating the similarity between the application of mathematics to science to the application of language to things.

So I find (B) to not be the purpose of the third paragraph, it seems to only describe a part of the paragraph. While the third paragraph does describe the position of linguists, the author also shows how this position is similar to how the mathematical language relates to science.

logicfiend

Hi hope it's not too late, but I also just did this section a few days ago. This is a tough passage and question! I think (D) is definitely tempting.

(B) is the answer because you can see the third paragraph begins by saying this "latter theory" has been gaining acceptance, the latter theory being that language is "purely a matter of agreed-upon conventions, making knowledge tenuous, relative, and inexact." The paragraph then goes into how this theory operates within the context of the linguists' world and the scientists' world, ultimately saying that's applicable in both worlds. So the focus is really to explain and elaborate on the theory, "truth [language] is merely a matter of convention," as stated in (B).

The MAIN PURPOSE, as in why is this paragraph in the passage, is not to compare/show similarities in the linguists and the scientists' views. Rather, it's to further explain the second theory.

And as with most LSAT ACs, there are other reasons that (D) is wrong. First thing that jumped out at me was "current debate," where in the passage do we know it's a current debate? Could be, could not be, but it's not supported by the passage. But what really made me skeptical about answer choice is "the nature of explanation." There is no support in the passage for a debate on "the nature of explanation." It's playing on the first few lines of the passage, but it's an incorrect characterization of the scientists' views. The passage deals with language and the truth of that language to the physical world.

Hopefully that wasn't too confusing! If anyone has anything else to add/change/correct about my explanation, please do!