LSAT 108 | Section 1 | Reading Comprehension: Q23

RC Question 23 Explanation

DISCUSSION: This is the idea from the second paragraph that the author rejected. It means that if I say “apple”, then the word corresponds to a real and definite object in the real world. “Apple” means a piece of fruit, and not anything else.

Every object has an essential meaning that every language will assign to that object.

The right answer supports this idea by showing that two languages independently arrived at the same categories. This would be unlikely unless objects had fixed identities and language could regularly match words to those identities.

The opposing theory is that words have meaning only because we agree on their meaning.

___________

1. CORRECT. This supports the idea that essential categories of objects exist. Each language found the same categories independently. So the categories might exist apart from language.
2. The second language could have just taken the categories from the first language. And the first language could have agreed upon the categories as a matter of convention, as the second theory would predict.
3. If everyone speaks the same language, then they likely agree what words mean. There’s no surprise here.
4. This doesn’t tell us that non-scientific societies have different sentence structures. Maybe everyone just uses similar sentences.
    
   It’s possible sentences are similar by mutual agreement. This information could support either theory.
5. This doesn’t tell us whether those speakers are right. People’s beliefs can rarely prove anything.