Columnist: Video games are not works

Answer choices

1. A

   Unrelated to Goal1% picked this

   Most video game creators do not intend their video games to be

   Since this answer doesn't give us a way to establish that the aesthetic experience of video games isn't controlled by the creator(s) of the video game, it's functionally useless to us. That is the fact we need to establish in order to prove that video games aren't art.

   1%
2. B

   Correct89% picked this

   An aesthetic experience cannot be both interactive and controlled by the artist or artists who

   Why this is right

   This says that, "If an aesthetic experience is interactive (as is the case with video games), then the aesthetic experience isn't controlled by the creators of that video game." And for something to be a work of art, the aesthetic experience must be controlled by the creators. So together, this proves that video games are not works of art.

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

   89%
3. C

   Unclear Impact2% picked this

   For something to be a work of art, it must produce a

   We already have a way to prove that video games aren't art (establish that the aesthetic experience isn't controlled by the creators), so this answer should feel fishy. This answer, however, does have the potential to prove that something isn't art. Does its trigger apply to video games? Were we told that video games do not produce a rich aesthetic experience? We were not. If anything, it is suggested that they sometimes do produce such an experience. Since we don't know if the trigger applies to video games, we don't know whether the outcome would apply.

   2%
4. D

   Too Weak: typically6% picked this

   Typically, video game players do not themselves create

   Even though "typically" is fairly strong (same as most, generally, usually), it is not 100% of cases. The conclusion we're trying to prove is about 100% of cases, so by sheer strength of language alone we know this won't do the job.

   6%
5. E

   Unrelated to Goal2% picked this

   Players’ choices that have no effect on the outcome of a video game are irrelevant to the aesthetic

   Since this answer doesn't give us a way to establish that the aesthetic experience of video games isn't controlled by the creator(s) of the video game, it's functionally useless to us. That is the fact we need to establish in order to prove that video games aren't art.

   2%