LSAT 149 – Section 3 – Question 13

LSAT 149 - Section 3 - Question 13

December 2017

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT149 S3 Q13
+LR
Sufficient assumption +SA
Link Assumption +LinkA
A
12%
157
B
0%
150
C
0%
144
D
3%
153
E
84%
164
136
146
155
 +Medium 147.456 +SubsectionMedium

Science cannot adequately explain emotional phenomena such as feeling frustrated, falling in love, or being moved by a painting. Since they cannot be explained by physics, chemistry, or neurophysiology, human emotions must not be physical phenomena.

Summary
The author concludes that human emotions are not physical phenomena. Why? Because science, including physics, chemistry, and neurophysiology, can’t adequately explain emotions.

Missing Connection
Does the fact emotions can’t be explained by science prove that emotions are not physical? Not necessarily; we don’t know what’s required to be considered a physical phenomenon. To make the argument valid, we want to prove that if something can’t be explained by science, then it’s not a physical phenomenon. Or in other words, in order to be a physical phenomenon, it must be explainable by science.

A
Whatever is not a physical phenomenon cannot be explained by science.
(A) tells us that if something isn’t physical, then it can’t be explained by science. This is the reversed form of what we’re looking for. We want to know that if something can’t be explained by science, then it’s not physical.
B
Nothing that can be felt by only one subject can be studied scientifically.
(B) doesn’t establish anything about what’s not considered physical. Since neither this answer nor the premises establish what’s not considered physical, it can’t make the argument valid.
C
Physics, chemistry, and neurophysiology have similar explanatory frameworks.
(C) doesn’t establish anything about what’s not considered physical. Since neither this answer nor the premises establish what’s not considered physical, it can’t make the argument valid.
D
Whatever is not a physical phenomenon is an emotional one.
(D) says that if something is not physical, then it’s emotional. But we’re trying to reach the conclusion that something is not physical. Learning what happens IF we start off knowing that something is not physical doesn’t make the argument valid.
E
Every physical phenomenon can be explained by physics, chemistry, or neurophysiology.
(E) establishes that to be physical, something must be explainable by physics/chemistry/neurophysiology. We know from a premise that emotions can’t be explained by physics/chemistry/neurophysiology. So emotions aren’t physical.

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LSAT PrepTest 149 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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