PrepTest 131

Incorrect. The argument doesn't make any determination about what's more or less important for a complete aesthetic theory to account for, just if it can provide an understanding of enough art to be complete (i.e., all of it).

Incorrect. The knowledge of the rebellious artists towards the theory doesn't have an impact on whether that theory can help to understand that art. The theory can fail to account for that art whether or not the artists are aware of the theory.

Incorrect. It does sound as if the 18th-century European aesthetic theory was developed in Europe. However, the argument establishes that it can't help understand certain art from the 1960s, but it doesn't state where that art was made. Therefore, the argument neither assumes that the European theory can't describe this art (it establishes) nor does it necessarily raise an example from a different part of the world.

Incorrect. If a theory is to be complete, then it needs to address all art. A single example of art that can't be addressed by a theory is enough to rule it out as complete. As such, the argument doesn't assume that the art from the 1960s is the only art that the 18th-century European aesthetic theory can't describe, but it is enough to support the theory as incomplete.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Errors in Reasoning

Stimulus Summary:
18th-century European aesthetic theory was good at describing art until the 1960s, but it fails to describe art from that period, so there Ôs no complete theory of aesthetics.

Answer Anticipation:
That conclusion is very strong—there can be "no" complete theory of aesthetics. In order to justify it, the premises would need to establish that any theory of aesthetics out there is necessarily incomplete. Are the premises strong enough to back that up?

Nope. In fact, they only deal with a single theory—18th-century European aesthetics. By only showing that this one theory of aesthetics is complete in order to justify a conclusion that no theory of aesthetics can be complete, the argument is assuming that this one theory is as good as it can get—or that it's representative of all theories. That's a major jump without justification, so we should look for answers highlighting that assumption.

Answer Explanation:
This answer highlights the assumption made in the argument. The stimulus establishes that 18th-century European aesthetic theory isn't a complete theory of aesthetics (since it can't help understand certain artwork). From that, it concludes that no theory can be complete. It therefore assumes that either 18th-century European aesthetic theory is complete, or nothing is, as this answer choice states.

Key Takeaway:
Some Errors in Reasoning questions have answers that state the flaw in abstract terms. Others have answers that bring up potential assumptions made by the argument. Still others have answers that bring up possibilities the argument overlooked. You need to be ready to understand answers using each of these forms. Here, the correct answer (and each other) was phrased as an assumption of the argument, but some questions will have an answer choice set that mixes and matches.