LSAT 156 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q13

LR Question 13 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Santayana recommends that we study history to avoid the …

QUESTION TYPE: Identify the Conclusion

CONCLUSION: We shouldn’t try to avoid past mistakes by studying history.

REASONING: History consists of unique, unrepeatable events, so current crises are never the same as past ones.

ANALYSIS: Start with the first sentence: Santayana says study history to avoid past mistakes. The author immediately disagrees.

Everything after that is explaining why. The author argues that history is made up of unique events, so the situations we face now are never the same as those in the past. If that’s true, then studying history won’t help us avoid repeating past mistakes.

So the main point is rejecting Santayana’s advice. Note that it’s not saying history is useless in general, just that it can’t serve that specific purpose.

___________

1. Too strong. The argument doesn’t say we shouldn’t study history at all.
2. This is part of the reasoning, not the main point.
3. Also a premise. It supports the idea that situations aren’t repeatable.
4. We don’t know if the author thinks studying history is valuable.
5. CORRECT. Studying history won’t help us avoid past mistakes, so we shouldn’t rely on it for that purpose.