LSAT 154 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q12

LR Question 12 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Art history professor: Costa criticizes my theories…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: Costa’s reasoning is wrong.

REASONING: Costa says that it’s intellectually bankrupt to assign art to historical periods. But, Costa’s own theories require assigning work to historical periods.

ANALYSIS: The author is using a version of an ad hominem flaw. Costa’s arguments show he is a hypocrite, but he might nonetheless be right. (In which case both the professor’s and Costa’s theories would be wrong).

___________

1. This is a different kind of flaw, an incorrect reversal. Fro this type of answer to be right, the stimulus needs a conditional statement.
    
   Example of flaw: If Costa is wrong, he will be sad. Costa is sad today, so he must be wrong.
2. If you picked this, you probably thought maybe Costa’s argument and Costa’s theories happened at different times, and perhaps Costa changed his mind. But that’s not so – the stimulus says Costa’s current theories require an assignment, and that Costa criticizes the professor (present tense).
    
   So both of Costa’s ideas are current ideas.
3. CORRECT. See the analysis above. This describes a version of an ad hominem flaw: hypocrisy. The professor ignores the fact Costa might be right, and therefore both the professor’s and Costa’s theories would be wrong.
    
   If I say “ice cream is bad for you” while eating ice cream, that hypocrisy doesn’t make ice cream good for you!
4. The professor wasn’t making any claim about art in general. They only talked about four kinds of art: baroque, neoclassical, classical, and romantic French Opera.
    
   It was Costa who mentioned art in general. So, this answer doesn’t describe anything the professor did, and so can’t be a flaw.
5. The author actually does compare theories about art! They’re saying “my theories can’t be wrong, because Costa’s theories do the same thing”.

Recap: The question begins with “Art history professor: Costa criticizes my theories”. It is a Flawed Reasoning question. Learn more about LSAT Flaw questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.