Logical Reasoning

PT21 · S3 · Q6 Books about architectural works

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Books about architectural works, unless they are not intended for a general audience, ought to include discussions of both the utility and the aesthetic appeal of each of the buildings they consider.

Statements

conditional (unless = “if not”)

intended for a should include general audience → discussions of utility and and aesthetic appeal about architect works of each building

conditional (if = left side)

general audience architecture book doesn’t include disc of → flawed utility / aesth appeal of each bldg

Morton’s book on Italian palaces: - for one palace he talks about for a while, he describes function (utility) but not that it’s known as a breathtaking masterpiece (aesthetic appeal).

Evaluate

The question stem wants us to pick an answer that will prove that Morton’s book is flawed. In order to use the provided rule to prove that a book is flawed, we need to check several boxes

1. it’s a book about architectural works 2. it’s intended for a general audience 3. it doesn’t discuss both the utility and the aesthetic appeal of each building in the book.

We know that Morton’s book is about palaces, which are architectural works. We know that it fails to discuss the aesthetic appeal of one of the buildings considered in the book. So we have #1 and #3.

Goal

We just need to know #2, that Morton’s book was intended for a general audience.

If the statements above are true, it would be necessary to establish which one of the following in order to conclude that Morton’s book is flawed?

Morton’s description of the palaces’
Unrelated to Goal
We’re looking to hear that Morton’s book was intended for a general audience. No part of the rule dealt with whether or not descriptions are accurate.
3% picked this
Morton’s book does not discuss
Unrelated to Goal
We’re looking to hear that Morton’s book was intended for a general audience. No part of the rule dealt with discussing things other than utility and aesthetic appeal.
7% picked this
Correct
Morton’s book is intended for
Why this is right
We are trying to use the rule provided that allows us to prove that a book is flawed. In order to do so we need to know that book is about architectural works, intended for a general audience, and fails to either talk about utility or aesthetic appeal for at least one of the buildings considered. We were told that Morton’s book is about architectural works and fails to talk about the aesthetic appeal of at least one building it considered. But we hadn’t yet been told that the book was intended for a general audience.
Skill tested: Necessary Assumption · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
73% picked this
The passage discussing the palace
Unrelated to Goal
We’re looking to hear that Morton’s book was intended for a general audience. We don’t care whether the palace in question plays an important role or a minor role. We only care whether utility and aesthetic appeal were covered for each building discussed.
3% picked this
The palace discussed at length
Unrelated to Goal
We’re looking to hear that Morton’s book was intended for a general audience.We don’t care whether the palace we heard about is one of the most aesthetically important in the book, or whether it’s the 20th most important.
14% picked this

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