Critic: Historians purport to discover the patterns inherent in the

Question

Critic: Historians purport to discover the patterns inherent in the course of events. But historians actually impose, rather than find, such patterns by choosing what to include in and exclude from their historical narratives. Thus, properly understood, histories reveal more about the presuppositions underlying different historians' attempts to understand what happened than about what actually happened.

The critic's argument depends on which one of the following assumptions?

(A) Historians have many presuppositions in common with one another.
 
(B) There is no way to determine with certainty whether a pattern described by a historian is actually present in and not merely imposed upon the events.
 
(C) Historians presuppose that certain historical patterns accurately describe many different eras.
 
(D) Most historians cannot become aware of the presuppositions that they bring to their narratives.
 
(E) Which pattern a historian imposes upon events is affected by that historian's presuppositions.

guddo · Answer

Critic: Historians purport to discover the patterns inherent in the course of events. But historians actually impose, rather than find, such patterns by choosing what to include in and exclude from their historical narratives. Thus, properly understood, histories reveal more about the presuppositions underlying different historians' attempts to understand what happened than about what actually happened.
 
 The critic's argument depends on which one of the following assumptions?

The critic argues that historians impose patterns on events by selecting what to include and exclude. From this, the critic concludes that histories reveal more about the historians’ presuppositions than about the events themselves.  The missing link  is that the patterns historians impose are shaped by their  presuppositions .

(A) Historians have many presuppositions in common with one another.

Wrong. The argument does not need historians to share presuppositions. It is about how each historian’s presuppositions shape that historian’s narrative.

(B) There is no way to determine with certainty whether a pattern described by a historian is actually present in and not merely imposed upon the events.

Wrong. The critic does not need to assume certainty is impossible. The argument is about what histories reveal, not whether we can ever test historical patterns with certainty.

(C) Historians presuppose that certain historical patterns accurately describe many different eras.

Wrong. The argument does not require historians to apply the same patterns across many eras.

(D) Most historians cannot become aware of the presuppositions that they bring to their narratives.

Wrong. Even if historians are aware of their presuppositions, their narratives could still reveal those presuppositions.

(E) Which pattern a historian imposes upon events is affected by that historian's presuppositions.

Correct. If historians impose patterns, and those imposed patterns are affected by their presuppositions, then histories can reveal more about those presuppositions than about what actually happened. This is the assumption that connects the evidence to the conclusion.

Answer: (E)

gullyboy09 · Answer

There is a jump from imposing the pattern to pre-supposition, E is correct.

Argument - Rather than finding the pattern, historians imposed it.
Conclusion - History tells us more about historians pre-supposition than actually what happened.

yc168 · Answer

OE for reference:

Overview:  
The critic's argument is built on the premise that historians impose patterns on the events they study rather than finding such patterns. The critic concludes that histories reveal more about historians' presuppositions than about what actually happened. In arguing this way, the critic is evidently making a connection between historians' presuppositions and the patterns they impose on events. You are asked to identify an assumption that the critic's argument depends on.

The Correct Answer:

E  If the patterns that historians impose on events are not affected by those historians' presuppositions then those patterns would reveal nothing about the presuppositions of the historians who imposed them. Therefore, since the critic's only premise is that historians impose patterns on the events they study, the critic's argument depends on (E) in order to reach its conclusion.

The Incorrect Answer Choices:

A  The critic's argument concludes that histories reveal something about historians' presuppositions. But the critic's argument is not committed to the view that different historians produce similar historical narratives. So the critic's argument doesn't need to assume anything about whether different historians share presuppositions.

B  The critic's argument is based on the premise that historians impose patterns on the events they study rather than finding those patterns. So the critic's argument is committed to the view that the patterns described by historians are merely imposed on events. (B), on the other hand, states a skeptical position with regard to this view. So the argument clearly does not depend on assuming (B).

C  The critic's conclusion concerns the presuppositions that historians bring to their attempts to understand the course of historical events. The critic reaches that conclusion on the basis of the view that historians impose patterns on historical events rather than discover those patterns. The idea that there are commonalities between different historical eras—that certain historical patterns describe different eras—is unnecessary for the critic's argument.

D  The critic says that historians purport to discover patterns in events. However, this does not mean that they can't be aware of their presuppositions. Moreover, if historians could become aware of the presuppositions they bring, that would have no effect on the critic's inference that histories reveal more about historians' presuppositions than about what actually happened. So the critic's argument does not depend on assuming (D).

Critic: Historians purport to discover the patterns inherent in the

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Critic: Historians purport to discover the patterns inherent in the

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615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

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