Thanks for the question! So first, keep in mind that on the LSAT, we are ALWAYS looking for the “best” answer. Which, here, will be one that is the most supported by the passage. We’re asked about the quotation in lines 52-55, so we should go to those lines, reading both before and after them at least a couple of lines so we can get the full context. Those lines tell us that King talks about two types of laws, just and unjust laws. And then after that, we’re told that King’s opposition is “philosophically akin” to the transcendentalists’ opposition to the Fugitive Slave Law in the 19th century.
Now, take a look at (B), which tells us that King’s philosophy was affected by transcendentalist thought. This is pretty tempting based on the last sentence, but ultimately, the way (B) is phrased makes it incorrect. We aren’t told that King’s philosophy was affected by transcendentalists; we’re only told that it’s “philosophically akin” (or similar to) the philosophy of transcendentalists. And indeed, if we paid attention to the beginning of the paragraph, we would see that in lines 38-39, we’re told that King was a transcendentalist “without realizing it.” Which means that King wasn’t affected by transcendentalism. He just happened to be saying things that vibes with transcendentalism. So (B) does show that King’s philosophy was similar to transcendentalism, but not that his philosophy was affected by it.
Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.
