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Difficulty: Very hardArgument by Analogy

Museum Director: In art conservation, we frequently strip away the dull patina that accumulates on ancient bronze statues over centuries. This practice is entirely justified, as removing this later accumulation reveals the gleaming metal underneath, thereby allowing modern viewers to experience the sculpture's appearance exactly as the original artist intended. By this exact same logic, literary translators producing modern editions of ancient epic poetry should aggressively replace the poems' archaic, obsolete vocabulary with contemporary street slang. Just as removing the patina restores the visual impact of the statue, modernizing the vocabulary restores the visceral, immediate emotional impact the poem had on its original listeners.

Which one of the following most accurately describes a flaw in the museum director's reasoning?

  1. The argument relies on an analogy that equates removing a later accumulation to uncover original material with replacing original material to recreate a psychological effect.Answer
  2. B
    The argument fails to consider that the physical degradation of bronze occurs naturally, whereas the evolution of language is driven by complex cultural factors.
  3. C
    The argument takes for granted that removing the patina from a bronze sculpture successfully restores its intended appearance, a claim that is heavily disputed.
  4. D
    The argument equivocates with respect to the concept of 'antiquity,' using it to refer to the age of the physical bronze in one instance and the historical setting of the poem in another.
  5. E
    The argument ignores the fact that many modern readers actively seek out the challenge of deciphering archaic vocabulary for an intellectually authentic experience.

Answer

The correct answer is the option stating that the argument relies on an analogy equating the removal of a later accumulation to uncover original material with the replacement of original material to recreate a psychological effect.
The correct answer accurately identifies the structural breakdown in the director's analogy. The director compares restoring a statue to restoring a poem. However, 'restoring' the statue involves removing a natural accumulation (patina) to reveal the artist's actual, original work. In contrast, 'restoring' the poem involves deleting the artist's actual, original words and replacing them with entirely new contemporary words. The analogy is flawed because it falsely equates uncovering an original medium with replacing an original medium.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the argument's core conclusion and its primary supporting premise.
The conclusion is that translators should replace archaic vocabulary in ancient epics with modern slang. The premise is an analogy comparing this to removing patina from ancient bronze statues.
Isolating the conclusion and the evidence is the required first step in analyzing any LSAT logical reasoning argument.
2
Analyze the structure of the base case in the analogy (the bronze statues).
In the base case, art conservators remove a later, natural accumulation (the patina) in order to reveal and preserve the artist's actual, original physical medium (the metal).
To evaluate an argument by analogy, we must precisely understand the mechanics of the baseline situation being used for comparison.
3
Analyze the structure of the target case in the analogy (the epic poetry).
In the target case, translators are advised to remove the artist's actual, original medium (the archaic vocabulary) and replace it entirely with new material (modern slang).
Comparing the exact mechanics of the target case against the base case reveals whether the analogy holds logically.
4
Evaluate the validity of the analogy to find the logical flaw.
The analogy fails because the two actions are structurally opposite. The first uncovers the original work, while the second destroys and substitutes the original work. The argument falsely equates these opposite actions simply because they aim for a similar end goal (restoring initial impact).
Identifying where a comparison structurally breaks down is the key to answering an 'Analogy Flaw' question.

Key Concept

Argument by Analogy Flaws (False Analogy)
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Topics

Argument by Analogy

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