#12 - Concept Reference, Point at Issue

[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!

[Qiqi2159]

Hi I have a quick question on Q12, the disagreement question. I understand that passage A supports the idea that public funding can encourage the establishment of social capital. But I am not clear why B disagrees with it.. is it because public funding creates arts that people don't like? Please help. Thank you!

[nyc431]

Hi - I have the same question as the above comment. Is there any specific reference in B that helps us reach this conclusion?

[alicechoi86@gmail.com]

I was unsure about this one too, but upon reviewing, I think:
if you take passage A's definition of "build social capital" as building the "invisible, informal ties that bind our society together"
then, the author of passage B, who thinks that tax-funded arts subsidies does NOT "respect all people as equal individuals, capable of making their own choices", would think that the subsidies ERODE those ties that bind our society together.

At first, I thought it was a stretch to tie <respecting all people as equal individuals> with <building ties that bind our society together>, but I had eliminated all the other answer choices, so felt better about it.

If there are any other details that would've strengthened this answer choice, I would love any insight as well!

[atierney]

Hello all,

Yes, for this question, it's essential to look at the perspective taken by each author in evaluating the merit or benefit of government subsidies for the arts. While Alice (in the comment above) correctly identifies that passage A certainly identifies Social Capital as one of the central benefits provided by the arts, we really don't see such a benefit even acknowledged in passage B. And I think that this is primarily because the author of passage B views art's value in terms of the enjoyment it provides at the individual level. In fact, the author of Passage B goes out of their way to distinguish the aesthetic enjoyment of art from what is necessarily a public good, mainly national defense. For the author here, any art so subsidized must provide some type of aesthetic enjoyment to each person individually. There is no acknowledgment that art has can have a "public" or "social" benefit that can be enjoyed at the collective level (at least in terms of the line of argument so taken), such as that mentioned in Passage A's discussion of Social Capital. For that reason, A is the best answer, given the perspectives and arguments made by each author.

Now, as you all probably know, one way to always tackle any question on the LSAT is to eliminate answer choices, and here, I think we can successfully eliminate all the other answer choices, especially with respect to private art support and art institutions, both of which the author of passage B does not explicitly mention, and I think that answer choice B would misrepresent the argument of the author of passage B. No claim is made or implied about there not being any benefit, rather that there is no single benefit to all.

As this is a new test, I'm sure that there will be potentially many follow up questions to this; although I do hope this clears things up preliminarily. As to further questions, ask away!

[bella243]

Just my two cents to the previous response:

Both passages do actually talk about private funding of art, so it's not correct to say that it's not mentioned in either passage. C is incorrect because passage A says that it's the absence of public art subsidies, private art subsidies will not be distributed equally, not that public subsidies will negatively impact private subsidies.

Does this make sense to you guys?

[Adam Tyson]

It does indeed, bella. Neither author suggests that public funding negatively impacts private funding, so neither of them would necessarily agree with answer C. I would agree with atierney's statement that "private funding" is not mentioned in Passage B; the only reference is to art that is privately funded, but that is a reference to the art and not to the funding itself. Author B never talks about the actual source of funds or mechanism of funding. That might be splitting hairs, but sometimes that is exactly what this test calls on us to do!

[ange.li6778]

I would also add that the first sentence of Passage B says "Tax-funded arts subsidies admittedly provide some incidental benefits, such as increasing tourism" so choice B is incorrect in implying the author of passage B thinks art subsidies don't provide any benefits at all. I totally glossed over this sentence during the test and didn't see it until my third reread during review :')

[Robert Carroll]

ange.li6778,

Exactly why answer choice (B) is wrong!

Robert Carroll

[mkarimi73]

I think the reason why the test-makers chose (A) is because Passage A clearly agrees with (A), but you could also make an inference from Passage B that demonstrates he/she would disagree with such a statement. Passage B states "Yet even if we could guarantee better art, it is doubtful that we could guarantee more widespread aesthetic enjoyment....Most people will therefore get what they don't like." This implies that if folks get art that they don't like, they probably won't show up to the cultural events! And Passage A says, "Art events and institutions in a community also build social capital...by enhancing opportunities for citizens to get together...etc etc." So, I think you could make an argument that Passage B would disagree with answer choice (A). It's a stretch, but you have to make some inferences for a question like this, since there is not clear-cut answer. (I think this is what they were testing. Correct me if I am wrong.)

Could I also have an explanation for why (D) is wrong, please? Thanks.