Logical reasoning PrepTest 118 · Section 4 · Question 17

Incorrect. This answer restates the conclusion of the argument, and the argument doesn't assume the conclusion is true—it establishes premises (and often assumes something) in order to reach the conclusion.

Incorrect. People agreeing on subjective judgments don't matter to the argument—just whether those judgments are or aren't subjective in the first place.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Errors in Reasoning

Stimulus Summary:
notValue intrinsic → Extrinsic
Therefore: Judgments about quality are a matter of taste
Therefore: Whether art's value is intrinsic and whether judgments of art quality are subjective are related questions.

Answer Anticipation:
These arguments that are more philosophical in nature, or very abstract, can be really hard to wrap our heads around. In general, however, they end up boiling down to a term shift—the author jumps between two concepts that may be related but aren't the same. With the abstract language and lack of concrete premises, it can be hard to spot.

So we should start where we often start—in the conclusion. Term shifts frequently jump to a new term in the conclusion, and identifying that can help us to find which term in the premises the author of the argument is jumping from.

Here, the main point doesn't have a new term—premises talk about both intrinsic value and subjective judgments (being the same as a matter of taste). However, that intermediate conclusion talks about something being a matter of taste without a supporting premise discussing the same, so the argument must be making an assumption about a term from the premise supporting that conclusion. Note that even though something being a matter of taste shows up in the main point, it's a new term in the intermediate conclusion because it wasn't discussed in a premise supporting that conclusion.

With that noted, let's look at the premise in order to see what concept the argument is treating as establishing something about subjectivity. Since the premise is about intrinsic vs. extrinsic value, and intrinsic values are a part of the conclusion, the argument must be jumping between extrinsic value and value being subjective/a matter of taste. Those ideas might be related, but they're not the same concept, so the correct answer should highlight that the argument jumps between them—it assumes that extrinsic value is subjective.

Answer Explanation:
This answer reflects our anticipation highlighting the jump in the argument. The author jumps from a premise about extrinsic value to an intermediate conclusion about that value being a matter of taste (i.e., subjective), so she assumes that extrinsic value can't be objective (since, again, it's subjective).

Key Takeaway:
First, note that we considered "a matter of taste/subjective" to be a new term in the intermediate conclusion but not the main point. The real consideration is whether there's a term in the conclusion that doesn't show up in a premise that supports that conclusion. Since the intermediate conclusion supports the main point, a term that shows up in both can be supported in the main point. However, if the premises supporting the intermediate conclusion don't reference a key term to that conclusion, then it's a new term for the purpose of analyzing any gaps in that part of the argument.

Second, abstract/philosophical arguments can be really difficult to wrap our heads around, but they normally boil down to a term shift. Start with the conclusion(s) and identify any terms that don't show up in a supporting premise. Once you have that new term, find what concept from the premise the author is jumping from—it's usually something related but not the same.

Incorrect. This answer is the negation of our correct answer. A good sign that you're not dealing with the correct answer when an argument features a term shift is that the answer has a concept that's mentioned in both the premise and conclusion.

Incorrect. Whether value is intrinsic to the art is an open question in the field of art criticism, so there's no definitive answer to whether that value is intrinsic or extrinsic.