Logical Reasoning

PT103 · S2 · Q24 Monica’s and Hector’s statements

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Monica: The sculpture commissioned for our town plaza has been scorned by the public ever since it went up.

Monica's 1st Claim

The sculpture that the town commissioned has been scorned ever since it went up. does Hector disagree?

No comment. He doesn't discuss any awareness or skepticism of the scorn the new sculpture has received since it went up.

Monica's 2nd claim

The people in our town do not know very much about contemporary art. does Hector disagree?

He does not disagree. He indicates that he himself doesn't personally know about this public scorn the sculpture has received, but

He has no sense of whether it's true or false, so he's definitely not actively disagreeing with it.

Monica's 3rd claim

The unpopularity of the sculpture says nothing about the sculpture's possible artistic merit. does Hector disagree?

No, he moderately agrees with it. He says, , which sounds like, "I think I agree with you".

Monica's 4th claim

The sculpture's unpopularity with the public gives no reason for removing the sculpture. does Hector disagree?

Yes! He says that a public sculpture commissioned with public money should benefit the public, and the best way to measure whether the public thinks it's benefiting them is to go by their opinion.

If the sculpture is as unpopular as you say, then that is reason to remove the sculpture.

Goal

Look for an answer about

24.

Monica's and Hector's statements commit them to disagreeing about which one of the following principles?

  1. Public opinion of a work

    Both Disagree with This

    We evaluated that both of them think public opinion is not a reliable measuring stick of artistic merit.

    11% picked this

  2. Works of art commissioned for

    Out of Scope Person 1

    We would have no way to derive Monica's opinion on this, because she was never talking about whether or not the sculpture "benefited" the public.

    7% picked this

  3. The only reason for removing

    Too Strong

    Too Strong: the only Both Would Likely Disagree We wouldn't be able to derive this strong idea of "one and only one reason you ever get remove a piece of commissioned art ... !" from either person's statements.

    25% picked this

  4. The sculpture cannot benefit the

    Trap

    Out of Scope Person 1 Too Strong: cannot benefit unless We would have no way to derive Monica's opinion on this, because she was never talking about whether or not the sculpture "benefited" the public. We definitely couldn't derive this extreme idea from Hector. He never made artistic merit a precondition of public benefit. He never said, "if it doesn't have merit, it can't benefit the public."

    3% picked this

  5. Correct

    In determining whether the sculpture

    Why this is right

    Monica would say YES to this. Her argument concludes that the public's opinion is not a good reason to remove a sculpture, because bad public opinion doesn't mean there's a lack of artistic merit. Assumed in this is the idea that "what really matters, in deciding whether or not to keep the sculpture, is its artistic merit." Hector would say NO to this. He'd say, "the central question to ask in deciding whether to keep the sculpture is whether or not it benefits the public, and the best way of assessing that is by asking them for their opinion. Monica thinks artistic merit is what matters. Hector thinks the public's benefit (as measured by their opinion) is what matters.

    Skill tested: Agree/Disagree · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    54% picked this

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