LSAT 153 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q16

LR Question 16 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Art may make the world more beautiful, but one should choose…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: People should not choose to be artists.

REASONING: An artist’s pay is based on others’ subjective opinions, which is unacceptable.

ANALYSIS: This argument is based on the idea that you should not take a job where your pay is based on what others subjectively think about your work. But is that reasonable? Think of all the different jobs out there. If you find a hairdresser that does a great job, you’ll be willing to pay more for that haircut than a bad one – even though it’s your subjective opinion. A tutor you subjectively think is great will be paid more than a bad one. If your boss at the office thinks you’re doing a great job, you might get a raise based on her subjective opinion.

The premise of this argument is flawed in that it’s hard to find a job that doesn’t have that subjective element to some extent, so counting them all out for that is unreasonable.

___________

1. “Solely” is the key word here. The author never says pay should be the only consideration, just that jobs with this subjective element should be avoided.
2. The argument actually never takes this for granted at all.
3. CORRECT. If you followed the author’s principle, you would end up not being able to work any job! That’s ridiculous.
4. Sure, some artists are paid well. But “some” could mean .01% of artists, or even just one. Either way, this doesn’t change anything for the argument as even well-paid artists are paid based on a subjective evaluation.
5. The argument isn’t doing this. Yes, we are told that only jobs that satisfy the criterion are good jobs, but we are never told that any job satisfying the criterion is good.

Recap: The question begins with “Art may make the world more beautiful, but one should choose”. It is a Flawed Reasoning question. Learn more about LSAT Flaw questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.