LSAT 135 – Section 4 – Question 21

LSAT 135 - Section 4 - Question 21

December 2011

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT135 S4 Q21
+LR
Argument part +AP
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
4%
161
B
4%
157
C
12%
160
D
10%
160
E
69%
167
148
157
166
 +Harder 147.853 +SubsectionMedium

Philosopher: To explain the causes of cultural phenomena, a social scientist needs data about several societies: one cannot be sure, for example, that a given political structure is brought about only by certain ecological or climatic factors unless one knows that there are no similarly structured societies not subject to those factors, and no societies that, though subject to those factors, are not so structured.

Summarize Argument: Causal Explanation
To be able to explain the causes of cultural phenomena, you can’t just look at one society in isolation; you need data about several societies. Why? The philosopher walks us through an example. Say you want to know whether a certain political system can only be caused by specific environmental conditions. You’d need to know that this political system and these environmental conditions always go hand-in-hand. So, you’d need to look at the political systems and environmental conditions of several different societies to be sure there’s a pattern.

Identify Argument Part
The claim referenced in the question stem is the first sentence in the stimulus. It’s the philosopher’s main conclusion, and is supported by an example.

A
It describes a problem that the philosopher claims is caused by the social scientist’s need for certainty.
The referenced text is a conclusion, not a problem. The philosopher is stating what social scientists must do rather than describing issues within the field.
B
It is a premise used to support a general theoretical claim about the nature of cause and effect relationships.
The referenced text is a conclusion supported by the rest of the argument. There’s no general claim about the nature of cause and effect relationships.
C
It is a general hypothesis that is illustrated with an example showing that there is a causal relationship between political structures and environmental conditions.
“Hypothesis” is appealing, and there’s certainly an example. However, the example doesn’t demonstrate a causal relationship between political structures and environmental conditions. It simply states a conditions needed to be certain that such a relationship exists.
D
It is a dilemma that, it is argued, is faced by every social scientist because of the difficulty of determining whether a given cultural phenomenon is the cause or the effect of a given factor.
The philosopher doesn’t claim the referenced text is a dilemma, nor that it’s difficult to determine cause and effect. The philosopher simply claims that social scientists must examine several societies to explain the causes of cultural phenomena.
E
It is a claim that the philosopher attempts to justify by appeal to the requirements for establishing the existence of one kind of causal relationship.
The claim in question is the conclusion about social scientists’ need to examine other cultures. The justification is the example about ecological causes of political systems, which is one kind of causal relationships. This works!

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LSAT PrepTest 135 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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