Not all works of art represent

Answer choices

1. A

   Strengthens, If Anything5% picked this

   because some works of art are nonrepresentational, there is no way of judging our aesthetic

   This does not help us to argue that "there can be clear criteria for determining whether something qualifies as art". It seems to be speaking about cases in which "there can't be a way of judging aesthetics".

   5%
2. B

   Strengthens, If Anything8% picked this

   an object may have some aesthetic properties and not be a

   This is very weakly worded, so not tempting to begin with (for Strengthen, Weaken, Paradox). But it seems to bring up a potentially misleading case where something has aesthetic properties but isn't a work of art. That sounds more like an idea that would help the author argue, "See? We'll never be able to clearly say whether something is or isn't art."

   8%
3. C

   Correct72% picked this

   aesthetically relevant properties other than representation can determine whether an object is a

   Why this is right

   In this argument, the author tells us that representation is a context-dependent property, and we don't have a clear cut way to determine whether it's present in a work of art. This is the reason for his pessimistic conclusion. This answer is saying, "That's cool. So we don't have a clear way of determining whether or not an object is representational. That doesn't mean we determine whether an object qualifies as art. There are other aesthetically relevant properties we could use to make that determination." The goal of most Weaken answers is to absorb the Premise and show that it's still compatible with the Conclusion being wrong (i.e. the Anti-Conclusion). This answer allows us to say, "Even though PREM, it can still be ANTI-CONC" representation is aesthetically relevant, but we have no clear cut way to determine if it's present, we have at least some clear cut way to determine whether an object is art, we can use other aesthetically relevant properties to determine whether an object is art.

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

   72%
4. D

   No Impact13% picked this

   some works of art may have properties that are not relevant to our aesthetic

   This is somewhat similar to (B), in that if anything it seems to strengthen the author's general position that it's tough to ascertain whether stuff is / isn't art ... whether aesthetic properties are / aren't present ... are / aren't relevant.

   13%
5. E

   Strengthens, if anything1% picked this

   some objects that represent things other than themselves are not works

   This is very weakly worded, so not tempting to begin with (for Strengthen, Weaken, Paradox). But it seems to bring up a potentially misleading case where something has representational properties but isn't a work of art. That sounds more like an idea that would help the author argue, "See? We'll never be able to clearly say whether something is or isn't art."

   1%