Logical Reasoning

PT122 · S4 · Q16 There is a difference between

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There is a difference between beauty and truth.

Conclusion

There's a difference between beauty and truth.

Evidence

If beauty and truth were the same, then the most realistic pieces of art would be the best pieces of art.

Most realistic = most truthful

But many of the most realistic pieces are not among the best.

Evaluate

There is a New Term in the Conclusion: beauty

What is the author assuming about "beauty"? What is it supposed to match up with in the evidence?

We know that "truth" is meant to match up with "realistic", because (of common sense as well as because) the author explicitly tells us that "most realistic = most truthful".

But what does beauty, in the conclusion have to do with the argument?

The only somewhat related concept is best. So the author seems to be assuming there's a connection between "beauty" and "best".

This author is trying to make this sort of argument: X and Y aren't the same. After all, if they were the same, then something with the most X would be something with the most Y. Since that isn't always true, clearly X and Y aren't the same.

The problem is the author went from talking about "beauty/truth" to talking about "best/realism".

They spelled out most realistic = most truthful But they failed to spell out best = most beautiful

Goal

Look for an answer talking about "beauty" (if it doesn't, it's almost certainly wrong).

The author seemed to be using "best" as a placeholder for "most beautiful".

16.

Which one of the following is an assumption required by the argument?

  1. Correct

    The most beautiful artworks are

    Why this is right

    The author was trying to prove that beauty and truth are different things by saying, "Look, there are examples where most realistic ? best". Okay, what does that have to do with beauty and truth? The author thinks that he's presenting examples that show, most truthful ? most beautiful He established that "most realistic = most truthful" but didn't say out loud "best = most beautiful". (p.s. there's fewer than 5 examples ever when "most" was in a correct answer in Necessary Assumption)

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

    62% picked this

  2. If an artwork contains nonrealistic

    Too Strong

    Too Strong: not at all truthful Unrelated to Goal: beauty Our author has only said that "the most realistic pieces are the most truthful". That doesn't commit her to believing this fake opposite idea that "if anything is nonrealistic, then there is ZERO truthfulness".

    11% picked this

  3. None of the best artworks

    Too Strong: none

    The author only says that "many of the most realistic artworks aren't among the best", but that statement certainly leaves plenty of room for many of the most realistic artworks to be among the best. And then of course, there are tons of artworks that could be outside the category of "most realistic" but still within the category of "realistic" that might also be among the best.

    6% picked this

  4. Only the best artworks are

    Reversal

    "only" = necessary condition (put it on the right side) This is saying "if it's beautiful, then it's the best". But we actually need to know "if it's the best, then it's beautiful". The author's evidence is only about the best artworks. But somehow her conclusion is supposedly about beauty. When she's talking about "the best artworks", she is assuming that we're talking about "the most beautiful artworks". So, conditionally, we're thinking, "when she says the best, she means the most beautiful", which would look like, best ? beautiful If we negated this answer, it would just mean that "there is at least one artwork that is beautiful that is not among the best artworks". That wouldn't be an objection to this argument, so this isn't a necessary assumption.

    18% picked this

  5. An artwork’s beauty is inherently

    Out of Scope: subjective

    The author doesn't need to invoke any sense that "beauty is subjective". In fact, the author seems to kind of be acting as though we can talk about which artworks are the best, the most realistic, the most truthful, the most beautiful, so if anything he's acting as though beauty is a discernible, inherent quality.

    2% picked this

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