#22 - Global Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below!

[claudiagarin]

Is E correct because it refers to the Social Darwinists and how they believe evolution could emerge through collective action within society?

[Christen Hammock]

Hey Claudia!

You're exactly right! Because Gilman was part of the "latter ideological camp" of Social Darwinists (lines ~14-21), there had to be others who shared her views.

Christen

[lsatninja]

Having hard time to understand why D is wrong. Text says - "Darwin's theory of evolution did not apply to social ideology ... " Gillian identified herself with the other camp which means she was influenced by the other camp to join?

Can someone please explian? Thanks!

[Bob O'Halloran]

Hi Lsatninja,
Thank you for your question.
Answer choice (D) states that she was influenced by Darwin's writings only indirectly by writings of others. For this to be true we need evidence that she wasn't influenced by Darwin's writings directly. While the passage does state that Darwin's theory doesn't apply directly to social ideology, this doesn't mean that she wasn't influenced by these writings.
I hope this helps.
Bob

[BMM2021]

Hi,

I liked E, but I didn't choose it because it specified "evolutionary theorists," whereas Gilman is identified as a "novelist and social theorist" in the first line of the passage. I didn't want to assume that Social Darwinists were also evolutionary theorists, since they may have been social theorists who simply applied the reasoning of Darwinism to their arguments. I used the lines "...various intellectuals translated his ideas of natural selection into social language..." and "Gilman...applied evolutionary theory in the movement for social change" to support that stance as well. In turn, I didn't want to draw conclusions about what evolutionary theorists believed, since the only one mentioned is Darwin, and his opinions on Social Darwinism are absent in the passage.

Ultimately, I understand that the Gilman and her branch of Social Darwinists were theorizing about evolution through a social lens, so that could make them "evolutionary theorists" in that way. However, given the LSAT's penchant for tricky language and playing on assumptions, I didn't want to make that small leap. How can I approach this better?

[Adam Tyson]

You're overthinking that a bit, BMM. If Gilman "applied evolutionary theory in the movement for social change" and was identified as a "social theorist," it's no leap to call her and those with whom she identified "evolutionary theorists." Also, look at this language in the first paragraph:

Another, more activist group of Social Darwinists held that although changes in human societies, like those that occur in biological species, do constitute a sort of evolution...

This is the group that Gilman identified with. Again, it's no leap to call these Social Darwinists evolutionary theorists, since they have some theories about evolution within societies.

Don't look for ways to pick an answer apart, because when you take that approach you can too often find some minor detail to quibble over. Instead, remember the instructions to select the best answer, as opposed to the "correct" answer or the "right" answer. If the answer is better than the other 4, then no matter what minor complaints we have about it (and I have had many minor complaints about a lot of correct answers over the years!), it's still the best answer and therefore the credited response. Pick it, even if you don't love it, and move along to victory!

[SwanQueen]

Greetings,

I eliminated (E) because of "or prior to" - why can we deduce this?

Thank you in advance!

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi SwanQueen,

In order for Gilman to identify with a particular camp (as stated in the second paragraph) that camp would have to exist. Since it would exist before she identified with it, we can infer the "prior to" language from answer choice (E). If the position did not exist before she identified with it, she would be described as developing, initiating, or founding the group instead of just associating with an existing group.

Hope that helps!

[Overthinker99]

I figured that what AC E meant as far as "implications for social practice" was Gilman's own niche interpretation of the social ideology that she belonged to...which is that the implications of people being able to effect social evolution is that they should take an active role in doing so. Other people agreeing with that is not supported in the passage. How could I have known from the answer choice that it was referring to her broader ideology as apposed to the more specific one that was the main point of the passage?