LSAT 153 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q12

LR Question 12 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: The Discourses, a work attributed to the ancient Stoic…

QUESTION TYPE: Strengthen

CONCLUSION: It is unlikely that Arrian wrote The Discourses under Epictetus’ name.

REASONING: Epictetus’ views were known in Roman society, so an attempt at using his name to propose Arrian’s views would have been exposed by others at the time.

ANALYSIS: In order to strengthen this argument, we need to figure out what the argument is saying. We can look to our conclusion and realize that anything that makes it more unlikely that Arrian wrote under Epictetus’ name will be helpful for us. We are going to be looking for reasons that would make it difficult for Arrian to write under a false name or motivating factors to discourage him from doing so.

___________

1. Lack of attention from publishing under Arrian’s name might be a motivating factor for Arrian to use the name of Epictetus instead. This weakens our argument, so it cannot be the right answer.
2. Similarities between The Discourses and Arrian’s views only makes it more likely that Arrian forged Epictetus’ name, which weakens the argument.
3. This weakens the argument by making it more likely that Arrian would use Epictetus’ name, since he takes inspiration from someone who also falsely uses another person’s name.
4. CORRECT. This strengthens our argument because it gives us a reason why Arrian would not want to use Epictetus’ name. If Arrian has a lot to lose from his dishonesty, then he would be less likely to do so.
5. This answer has nothing to do with the question. We might be influenced by D to think that because Arrian was a consul and governor, that he had a high status and would be undermined for dishonesty, but D is simply the better answer because it doesn’t require these assumptions.

Recap: The question begins with “The Discourses, a work attributed to the ancient Stoic”. It is a Strengthen question. Learn more about LSAT Strengthen questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.