LSAT 156 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q21

LR Question 21 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Philosopher: For some kinds of art, there is truth to the adage …

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: There are no valid objective standards for judging artistic value.

REASONING: People disagree about whether certain paintings or sculptures have artistic value.

ANALYSIS: I probably disagree with you about how warm the weather is. There’s still some objective standard for what counts as warm weather, though.

“People disagree -> no objective standards exist” is a big jump. People can disagree even when there is a correct answer – they might just be wrong or applying the standards poorly.

___________

1. The conclusion doesn’t depend on the adage being true, it depends on the inference from disagreement.
2. Other art forms don’t affect the reasoning for this one.
3. Similar issue. Whether there are standards for music doesn’t matter for the claim about visual art.
4. CORRECT. Disagreement could happen even if objective standards exist, because people might be misapplying them.
5. This might actually strengthen the argument slightly. If the people who disagree are experts, then we have more reason to believe there’s no objective standards.