Text Structure and Purpose

SAT Reading and Writing· difficulty 5/5

Few twentieth-century philosophers have been as widely misread as Ludwig Wittgenstein. His later work is often invoked to support the claim that meaning is purely conventional. Yet Wittgenstein himself spent considerable energy resisting just this reading, insisting that conventions could not be analyzed apart from the practices in which they were embedded — a distinction his enthusiasts frequently elide.

Which choice best describes the function of the third sentence in the text?

  • A

    It restates the popular reading of Wittgenstein using different terms.

  • B

    It introduces a different philosopher whose views resemble Wittgenstein's.

  • C

    It corrects a common misreading by attributing a more nuanced position to Wittgenstein himself.

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  • D

    It endorses the conventionalist reading of Wittgenstein.

Explanation

The sentence pushes back on the popular conventionalist reading by attributing a practice-embedded view to Wittgenstein. B captures this corrective move.

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