I think this common argument underrates the extent to which core factual mastery informs your ability to perform analysis and to synthesize arguments. For example, if given the exam question “Discuss the role of demagoguery in Athenian democratic politics in the Peloponnesian War.” and you need to look up whether the Sicilian Expedition happened before or after the death of Pericles, then you probably don’t really understand the role of Athenian political dysfunction during the war either.