Logical reasoning PrepTest 103 · Section 2 · Question 24

Incorrect. Monica believes that public opinion doesn't speak to artistic merit, and Hector starts his argument by stating that she may be right on that front, so this isn't a point of disagreement.

Incorrect. While Hector believes that public opinion should determine whether the sculpture should be removed, he bases that on their opinion of whether something benefits them. That might require some level of artistic merit, and Monica seems to be on board with artistic merit, so this isn't a point that they definitely disagree over.

Incorrect. Monica doesn't believe that a sculpture should be removed even if public opinion is against it. Hector believes that public opinion is sufficient reason to get rid of the sculpture. However, he doesn't state that it's the only reason for removing it, so neither speaker is committed to agreeing with this answer.

Incorrect. This answer connects artistic merit and public benefit, it doesn't establish one as being more important than the other, so it doesn't highlight the point at issue between the two speakers.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument/Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed/Flawed

Question Type:
Point at Issue (Principle)

Stimulus Summary:
Background - A sculpture was commissioned for a town plaza

M: Our townsfolk don't know art, so their opinion that it's bad doesn't mean it lacks artistic merit, so it doesn't justify removing it.

H: Art for a public space should benefit the public, and their opinion is the only way to tell what they think is beneficial, so if people don't like it, let's remove it.

Answer Anticipation:
This may be the only Point at Issue (Principle) question in the history of the test!

What do we know about Principles? They are general statements that are generally applied to specific situations to reach judgments. Since we're looking for a Principle that the two speakers would disagree over, we should see if they disagree on the details or on the judgment.

Here, they're largely in agreement on the details. There's a sculpture, and it's in the town center. And while Hector doesn't explicitly agree with Monica's statements about the artistic knowledge of the townsfolk and their feelings on this sculpture, he does bake agreement on those points into his argument ("You may be right", "if public opinion . . . is what you say").

However, they do disagree on the judgment. Monica believes that public opinion doesn't justify removing the sculpture because it might have artistic merit, and Hector believes that public opinion justifies removing the sculpture even if it does have artistic merit. In other words, they disagree on what should determine whether the sculpture should be removed—public opinion, or artistic merit. Let's find an answer speaking to that issue.

Answer Explanation:
Monica believes that the artistic merit—not the public opinion—should determine whether the sculpture should be removed, agreeing with this answer. Hector, on the other hand, believes that it's public opinion that justifies removing it even if it has artistic merit, disagreeing with this answer. Therefore, this is the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
Note that even without knowing this was a Principle question, we still could have ended up at the correct answer by focusing on points of agreement and disagreement between the speakers. That said, knowing some elements of Principle questions allowed us to focus on the right area to start, and to phrase our anticipation in a way that was very close to the correct answer.