#26 - Specific Reference, Must Be True, Subject Perspective

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (A).

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[est15]

Can you explain why the answer is not B? The third paragraph states that linguists would argue that a statement is true if there are no better alternatives. So wouldn't that fit with answer B? I also didn't see any support in the passage for answer choice A. Could you also explain why A is correct? Thanks.

[Robert Carroll]

est,

Answer choice (B) is not correct because the elegance of a possible alternative, and the relative inelegance of "ball" and "red", don't create a situation where "there are promising alternatives that might lead one to question" the use of those terms. Even if the terms aren't the best terms, we wouldn't "question" that someone is wrong to use them simply because some more elegant terms do exist. The passage does not require that only one way of saying anything can exist; more than one way could exist, and we only reject an option when there is a reason to question it. If "ball" and "red" had no meaning in our language, they would express nothing; if their meaning was inherently vague, they might not be good choices. They aren't rejected just because they are not the most elegant.

Answer choice (A) is supported by the claim that, for these theorists, "the relationship between language and things is purely a matter of agreed upon convention." The truth of a claim, that correspondence between language and reality, is for these theorists only a matter of convention. If people agree that "the ball is red" applies to the situation under discussion, then it's true, because "people agree that the ball is red" is all that "'the ball is red' is true" means for these theorists.

Robert Carroll

[kells__w]

Hi
I got A right but would like to know why D is wrong; would a property aka red not refer back to the entity (ball) ultimately making both words refer to the same entity as in A?
Thanks in advance!

[Ryan Twomey]

Hey Kells,

The answer choice D, is sayign that "ball" is referring to an entity and "red" is referring to a property. I think you may have misunderstood the "respectively" languange in that answer choice.

There was not support for the theorists believing anything about differenciating between properties and entities. I phrephrased that we were looking for an answer choice that stated these terms are agreed upon by humans but don't necessarily have any scientific backing.

A was the closest answer choice to my prephrase.

I hope this helps.

Best,
Ryan

[crispycrispr]

Hi,

Can someone explain why (C) is wrong? I found this question troubling because the last sentence of the second paragraph is a very long one, separated by the colon. I chose (C) because I thought that was the side who thinks "language corresponds in some essential way to objects and behaviors," and physical relationships can describe behaviors. I think I might have misinterpreted what "physical relationship" means--it's not clear to me what it means. If the ball is red, isn't saying "the ball is red" corresponding to the very essence of the red ball?

[Poonam Agrawal]

Hi crispy,

I think this is just a case of misidentifying the correct lines in the passage. Lines 21-24 are referring to, "or, on the other hand... inexact." Therefore, the theory we are interested in is the one where language is a matter of accepted conventions. This is what answer choice (A) illustrates through "speakers of English have accepted that..."

You would be correct in choosing answer choice (C) if the question had asked about lines 19-20. Hope that helps!

[WarnerHuntingtonIII]

@Poonam,

I had a problem with this question as well. I picked C because it seemed to be the author's side. It was confusing bc two positions are listed in the last sentence.

Was this a typo? Could it really be A or C?

[Beth Hayden]

Hi Warner,

I can definitely see your confusion on this one, it was tricky of them to do it this way!

When you see a line reference you are looking for a statement that starts somewhere on the first line and ends somewhere on the last line. Specific reference questions like this will not always refer to an entire sentence, sometimes they just reference a phrase. You can tell that the question is referring only to the second half of the sentence because the sentence starts on line 18, and a line reference has to be fully inclusive. The viewpoint of the second set of linguists, who believe that language relationships are based only on conventions, starts on line 21 right after "on the other hand." Answer choice A reflects that viewpoint, but answer choice C reflects the viewpoint on lines 18-21.

Hope that helps!
Beth

[Mastering_LSAT]

Hello PowerScore,

I was wondering if you could doublecheck my thinking for this question (#26).

I approached this question as causal v conditional reasoning. Allow me to explain.

The question stem is asking about the reason for why “conventionalist” (line 21-24) hold that the statement “The ball is red” true.

Correct (A)

From the passage, it is clear that “conventionalists” would believe that the ball statement is trues because of / due to the agreed upon conventions (line 23). The correct answer (A) is using a synonymous phrase and talks about acceptance, which is totally fine.

In essence, Acceptance / Agreed Upon Conventions (Cause)  Statement True (Effect).

Here we have our correct answer!

Incorrect (B)

The most attractive incorrect answer choice (B) is hinging on the conditional relationship mentioned in lines (31-32).

Statement True  No Promising Alternatives (Necessary/Requirement)

So, even if you accept answer choice (B) to mean “no promising alternatives”, it is only a requirement for the statement to be true, not a cause/reason what makes the statement true.

Interestingly, existence of promising alternatives would lead to the statement being false (not true), just like the lack of agreed upon convention. But we are not asked about what makes the statement false in the view of “conventionalists”, so it’s just a brain teaser.

Would greatly appreciate it if my approach to selecting (A) as correct answer choice and eliminating (B) as incorrect are logically sound. Thank you!