There were several early attempts to forge a reconciliation

Question

There were several early attempts to forge a reconciliation between Shintoism and Buddhism based on mutual respect among their adherents. The evidence for this includes extant sculptures depicting Shinto gods wearing Buddhist vestments.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

(A) Most sculptures contemporaneous with the sculptures mentioned were intended to have religious significance.
(B) No sculptures that have not survived depicted Shinto gods wearing Buddhist vestments.
(C) Early attempts at reconciling Shintoism with Buddhism were successful.
(D) Shintoism did not originate as a sect of Buddhism.
(E) The depiction of Shinto gods wearing Buddhist vestments was not intended to represent the triumph of Shintoism over Buddhism.

madhsivalenka · Answer

Can you pls help me in understanding why E is the official answer and not D?

AnirudhaS · Answer

Easiest way would be negation.

(E) The depiction of Shinto gods wearing Buddhist vestments was not intended to represent the triumph of Shintoism over Buddhism.

Negating - 
(E) The depiction of Shinto gods wearing Buddhist vestments was  not  intended to represent the triumph of Shintoism over Buddhism.

If S gods wearing B stuffs were made to represent S>B, then it destroys the argument that this act was an act of reconciliation between S and B.

TheGraceful · Answer

Conclusion :  There were several early attempts to forge a reconciliation between Shintoism and Buddhism  based on mutual respect among their adherents. 
 Premise : The evidence for this includes extant sculptures depicting Shinto gods wearing Buddhist vestments.

Which one of the following is an  assumption  on which the argument depends?

(A) Most sculptures contemporaneous with the sculptures mentioned were intended to have religious significance.
 ==> May be true, may NOT be true. No indication in argument - hence out of scope   Eliminate

(B) No sculptures that have not survived depicted Shinto gods wearing Buddhist vestments.
===>  ==> May be true, may NOT be true. No indication in argument - hence out of scope   Eliminate

(C) Early attempts at reconciling Shintoism with Buddhism were successful.
===>  ==> May be true, may NOT be true. No indication in argument - hence out of scope. No where does it bridge gap between premise and conclusion   Eliminate

(D) Shintoism did not originate as a sect of Buddhism.
===>  ==> May be true, may NOT be true.  No indication in argument  - hence out of scope. Moreover NOT related to conclusion   Eliminate

(E) The depiction of Shinto gods wearing Buddhist vestments was not intended to represent the triumph of Shintoism over Buddhism. 
 ===> bridges gap between premise and conclusion. Moreover, negation test, proves this to be correct.

Sunsh · Answer

Assumption is the option if you invalidate that, Conclusion no longer holds. 
Conclusion - There were several early attempts to forge a reconciliation between Shintoism and Buddhism based on mutual respect among their adherents.
A. If concurrent sculptures had religious significance or not, does not invalidate the effort of reconciliation
B. Does not invalidate conclusion.
C. If you invalidate this option. if it was not successful, does not mean it cannot happen later. Invalidating this does not change conclusion.
D. Not related
 E. If you invalidate this option, If wearing Buddhist vestments was a sign of the triumph of Shintoism over Buddhism, then the conclusion of reconciliation does not hold. So this is the assumption made.

guddo · Answer

There were several early attempts to forge a reconciliation between Shintoism and Buddhism based on mutual respect among their adherents. The evidence for this includes extant sculptures depicting Shinto gods wearing Buddhist vestments.
 
 Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

The argument takes one kind of evidence, sculptures showing Shinto gods in Buddhist vestments, and uses it to support a specific conclusion: that there were attempts at reconciliation based on mutual respect. So the key assumption is that  this depiction reflects respect or reconciliation , not hostility or domination. If the sculptures instead symbolized one religion’s victory over the other, the argument would collapse.

(A) Most sculptures contemporaneous with the sculptures mentioned were intended to have religious significance.

This is not required. The argument depends on the meaning of these sculptures, not on what most other sculptures of the period meant.

(B) No sculptures that have not survived depicted Shinto gods wearing Buddhist vestments.

This is not needed. The argument uses the surviving sculptures as evidence. It does not depend on what lost sculptures may or may not have shown.

(C) Early attempts at reconciling Shintoism with Buddhism were successful.

This is not required. The conclusion is only that there were attempts, not that they worked.

(D) Shintoism did not originate as a sect of Buddhism.

This is irrelevant. The argument is about the meaning of the sculptures as evidence of reconciliation.

(E) The depiction of Shinto gods wearing Buddhist vestments was not intended to represent the triumph of Shintoism over Buddhism.

This is the required assumption.  If the sculptures represented triumph rather than mutual respect, they would not support the conclusion.

Answer: (E)

There were several early attempts to forge a reconciliation

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There were several early attempts to forge a reconciliation

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