Some works of art that today are recognized masterpieces were consider

Question

Some works of art that today are recognized masterpieces were considered obscene when first created. It therefore follows that what is considered obscene or not obscene has changed over time.

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

(A) Displays of works of art that are considered obscene change the way in which obscenity is defined.

(B) The number of things that are considered obscene has decreased with the passage of time.

(C) Public opinion does not determine the artistic value of a work of art.

(D) Not all currently recognized masterpieces that were once considered obscene are still considered obscene.

(E) All currently recognized masterpieces have at one time been considered obscene.

DinoPen · Answer

This was tricky for me. Ultimately, I chose A.

Modern Art recognized as masterpieces were considered obscene in the past.
Therefore, the definition of 'obscene' has changed over time.

I came down between A and D after taking out the other answer choices highlighted in red.
Since this was an assumption question, I used the negation strategy to choose between A and D.

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

(A) Displays of works of art that are considered obscene change the way in which obscenity is defined.
 Negating this: Displays of works of art that are considered obscene DOES NOT change the way in which obscenity is defined.
This weakens the conclusion that the definition of obscene has changed over time. Hence, this is the answer.

(B) The number of things that are considered obscene has decreased with the passage of time.
 We don't care about the number of things that decreased with time. We care about the definition surrounding obscenity.

(C) Public opinion does not determine the artistic value of a work of art.
 Artistic value? Same reasoning as B.

(D) Not all currently recognized masterpieces that were once considered obscene are still considered obscene.
 Negating this came out to be: All currently recognized masterpieces that were once considered obscene are still obscene.  This does not fit with the arguments reasoning that masterpieces today are not 'obscene'. Hence, there lies a discrepancy between the answer choice and the given information.

(E) All currently recognized masterpieces have at one time been considered obscene.
 This is an overgeneralization. Not all masterpieces were considered obscene back then.

daniformic · Answer

Some works of art that today are recognized masterpieces were considered obscene  when first created ...this means that after the exhibition of the work, people changed their minds about what is considered obscene or not obscene

(A) Displays of works of art that are considered obscene change the way in which obscenity is defined
Negating: Displays of works of art that are considered obscene doesn't change the way in which obscenity is defined

IMO A

Saasingh · Answer

I think its D.

Some works were considered obscene in " past "
What is considered obscene " has changed over time ".

I see a gap in timeline. Past and today's definition. We can only say that statement is true ONLY IF that definition of obscenity still applies  TODAY  AS WELL.

(A) Displays of works of art that are considered obscene change the way in which obscenity is defined .
No. Is it necessary that these art pieces themselves changes the definition of obscenity? Anything could be the source of change.

(B) The number of things that are considered obscene has decreased with the passage of time. 
No. The number of things is irrelevant.

(C) Public opinion does not determine the artistic value of a work of art. 
Out of scope completely. Public opinion has nothing to do with the passage.

(D) Not all currently recognized masterpieces that were once considered obscene are still considered obscene. 
Yes. Correct. The authoring in making the conclusion that definition has changed over time clearly assumes that what was true in past about these art pieces obscenity definition, is true today as well. Atleast some of those pieces must still be considered un-obscene.

(E) All currently recognized masterpieces have at one time been considered obscene. 
No. All pieces today in past were obscene? It goes in reverse. We need to know what pieces of past that were considered obscene are considered today. Not the other way around.

rounakkedia172 · Answer

Premise: Art past - Obscene, now - masterpiece
Conclusion: It therefore follows that what is considered obscene or not obscene has changed over time.
Assumption: Art which is masterpiece cannot be obscene or both cannot co-exist.

(D) Not all currently recognized masterpieces that were once considered obscene are still considered obscene.

Negate it: all currently recognized masterpieces that were once considered obscene are still considered obscene. 
it is a masterpiece and obscene at the same time. Wrecks the conclusion.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

This short and sweet argument attempts to conclude that our standards of obscenity have changed over time simply by pointing out that there are recognized masterpieces that were considered obscene when they were first created. That evidence establishes the conclusion only if we don’t still consider all those masterpieces obscene to this day, which is exactly what  (D)  says. The other choices are wrong answer types that show up frequently on the LSAT.

(A)  is a Distortion. The author isn’t assuming that the artworks themselves are responsible for changing our ideas of obscenity, just that those ideas have changed somehow.

(B)  is another Distortion. It doesn’t need to be true that the number of things labeled obscene has decreased. The author’s just trying to argue that our ideas of obscenity have changed. Perhaps there are things that were not considered obscene before that now are considered obscene.

(C)  is outside the scope of the argument. How the artistic value of an artwork is determined is irrelevant to its obscenity.

(E)  is too Extreme. The author’s argument is based on the idea that some, not all, recognized masterpieces were considered obscene at first.

Answer: D

This is not Official explanation rather belongs to Kaplan LSAT

sony1000 · Answer

Negation totally works on answer D. Neon colored lettering should be forbidden on these texts !!!!

SudhanshuC · Answer

Answer D 
 
   Evidence   = Initially some (not all) work of art was obscene and now they are masterpieces.

What does this evidence imply?   
 Let us assume there is a “lamp” which is a work of art. 
 The lamp was considered obscene before and now it is considered a masterpiece.  
 This is what the evidence states.

But wait? 
 Nowhere it is written in the evidence (of the argument) that just because lamp is a masterpiece today, its previous obscenity is removed. 
 So, today the lamp should be a masterpiece as well as obscene by this logic.

Conclusion   = Work of art  has changed  from obscene to a masterpiece.

But the conclusion of this argument states that the lamp is only a masterpiece. 
 So, it means that the lamp is no longer obscene and is only a masterpiece.  
 So, somehow obscene is removed from the lamp while arriving at the conclusion of the argument.

This removal of obscenity is the assumption in the argument   - which is stated in option-D as “a masterpiece today is not considered obscene”.

Negate D   
 
 All  currently  recognized  masterpieces are  considered  obscene now  as well as in the past.

But wait? 
 This means a work of art is currently a masterpiece as well as an obscene ( Current masterpieces are obscene now ).

This is impossible because as per the conclusion / argument, a work of art is either a masterpiece or obscene, but not both at the same time. 
 This destroys the conclusion and hence is the correct assumption.

srik410 · Answer

The trick in this question hinges on the fact that masterpiece != not-obscene. For example, "A Clockwork Orange" is  today  considered a masterpiece, but many also consider it obscene  today.  So, in fact something can be both masterpiece and obscene. Hence, the assumption should be bridging this gap to the conclusion.

Some works of art that today are recognized masterpieces were considered obscene when first created. It therefore follows that what is considered obscene or not obscene has changed over time.

(A) Displays of works of art that are considered obscene change the way in which obscenity is defined.
Negating this would say, Displays of works of art that are considered obscene do not change the way in which obscenity is defined. If you think about it, this has no aspect of time. So, what if a display of art at some point affected say the definition of obscenity. Does it say anything about at some other point in time? No. Therefore, negation has no effect on the conclusion-which is primarily about change over time.

(D) Not all currently recognized masterpieces that were once considered obscene are still considered obscene.
Negating this would say, All currently recognized Ms that were once considered obscene are still considered obscene -> So nothing changed over time wrt what is considered obscene -> Destroys the conclusion

Some works of art that today are recognized masterpieces were consider

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Some works of art that today are recognized masterpieces were consider

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