The argument Hector makes in responding

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Strong: No Matter What24% picked this

   no matter what the public’s opinion is on an issue affecting the public good, that public opinion ought to be acted on, even though

   This is an incredibly strong, "The people are always right" idea. Hector has only committed to the idea that "the people should be our gauge of benefit when it comes to works of art commissioned for public spaces".

   24%
2. B

   Never Correct11% picked this

   Monica’s assessment of the public’s opinion of the sculpture

   Any time there is a conditional conclusion, the author is not making any judgments on whether or not the trigger is true. We can never strengthen a conditional conclusion by making the trigger seem more likely to be true nor weaken it by making the trigger seem less likely to be true. The author makes no assumptions about the trigger's truth or falsity. We essentially add these conditions to our set of "givens", because the author is only claiming that "in a hypothetical world where this condition is true, judgment X would follow". Were I to claim, "If Obama served a third term, he would pass universal health care", you can't attack that claim by saying Obama won't / can't serve a third term. If we negated this answer choice and said that "Monica's account is not accurate", it has no effect on the author's conclusion.

   11%
3. C

   Out of Scope: Artistic Merit2% picked this

   if the sculpture had artistic merit, then even a public that was not knowledgeable about modern art would

   Nothing in Hector's argument has anything to do with artistic merit. He's only talking about whether or not the sculpture should be removed, whether or not the it benefits the public, and how we can determine what the public feels is to its benefit.

   2%
4. D

   Out of Scope: Artistic Merit3% picked this

   works of art commissioned for public spaces ought not to be expected to

   Nothing in Hector's argument has anything to do with artistic merit. He's only talking about whether or not the sculpture should be removed, whether or not the it benefits the public, and how we can determine what the public feels is to its benefit.

   3%
5. E

   Correct60% picked this

   if the public feels that it does not benefit from the sculpture, this shows that the public does not in

   Why this is right

   Did the author make a mental move from thinking: the public feels it → the public doesn't benefit doesn't benefit ? Sure. The author is trying to use this principle: if commissioned then that public car doesn't → art should benefit public be removed Since the author is arguing that we should remove this sculpture, he is thinking, "this sculpture does not benefit the public". How did he arrive at the idea that the sculpture doesn't benefit the public? He is combining Monica's testimony that the sculpture has received scorn with the principle that "the only way to determine what the public feels is to its benefit is to check popular opinion". He thinks that according to Monica's testimony, the public does not feel like the sculpture is to its benefit. And then he takes that to mean that the sculpture factually is not to the public's benefit. So, yes, the author made this move. If we negate this answer, it gives us this weakening objection, "Hey, author --- even though the public feels that it doesn't benefit from the sculpture, it's possible that they do in fact benefit from it." This is similar to the objection we conjured initially about, "Maybe the sculpture makes them uncomfortable but teaches them some valuable truth".

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

   60%