LSAT 115 | Section 1 | Reading Comprehension: Q25

RC Question 25 Explanation

DISCUSSION: Lines 7-14 describe the type of data scientists use. It’s objective, rather than based on an individual’s personal experiences. This is different from the old philosophic approach. Philosophers tried to describe what emotions felt like.

___________

1. CORRECT. The traditional approach is mentioned in lines 3-5. Philosophers used to try to say what it felt like to be angry, sad, happy, etc. But that may be unreliable, different people may describe the same thing differently. Science allows an objective look at what is happening inside someone’s brain when they feel anger.
   That’s the objectivist argument, which the author is describing without judgment. 
2. Lines 12-14 say that the data should be describable without any point of view. But you might want to use that universal data to talk about pain from a certain point of view, for example. The data are neutral, but we can use them for different purposes. Also, the author doesn’t say whether he agrees with the scientific view. 
3. Similar to B. We want objective data, that can be viewed externally. But then we might use this data to describe how something feels subjectively. Also note that the author doesn’t say whether subjectivists or objectivists are correct. 
4. Subjectivists haven’t even been mentioned at this point. And the author does not take sides between the two camps. The author describes each side’s point of view, but doesn’t criticize either side. 
5. The author doesn’t really care about those areas of science; the passage is focussed on the mind. They are only mentioned to show that science has had success.