Government support for the arts will almost certainly

Question

Government support for the arts will almost certainly interfere with the freedom of the creative process. Money, inevitably controlled by the politically powerful, will accumulate around established, conservative institutions when a certain philosophy prevails, or shift to the more experimental and radical groups when the political pendulum swings. Practicing artists will alter their own work accordingly, pursuing government funds at the expense of their own inner-directed development.

The author's logic in the argument above would be most weakened if it were true that 
(A) approximately the same number of individual creative artists are associated with so-called established institutions as with the more experimental groups 
(B) many people who would not otherwise experience the arts have had the opportunity to do so because of government funding 
(C) while it can be argued that political ideas swing in and out of fashion, it is equally arguable that trends in the arts are often short-lived 
(D) in every era, a few of the greatest individual artists do not tailor their efforts to attract money, either private or public 
(E) in assigning money to the arts, the politically powerful heed the advice of independent committees composed of artists respected in their fields

commdiver · Answer

E

The argument states that if the government supports artists, the artists will tailor their work towards government wants, rather than what they would have normally created to chase the money. To weaken the argument, one needs to find a fact that could cast doubt on this. E weakens the argument because if the government is consulted by artists, those artists will obviously be biased towards their creative side and in turn will advise the government to spend money that way. D looks like it could work, but D does not necessarily weaken the argument because the argument does not specify how many artists would bend their work to government wishes.

adesai88 · Answer

Assumption : Government funding will hinder creativity of artists

To Weaken : If any answer option mention about corrective steps / measures taken into consideration for giving government funding.

(A) approximately the same number of individual creative artists are associated with so-called established institutions as with the more experimental groups -->  No of Artists belonging to different institutes is out of context

(B) many people who would not otherwise experience the arts have had the opportunity to do so because of government funding -->  Out of scope

(C) while it can be argued that political ideas swing in and out of fashion, it is equally arguable that trends in the arts are often short-lived -->   Political Idea and trends in arts are not the central idea

(D) in every era, a few of the greatest individual artists do not tailor their efforts to attract money, either private or public -->  Able to counter the author's assumption but lacking quantity to substantiate. "A few" can be 3 or 50 or 1000. and it was not mentioned 
 
(E) in assigning money to the arts, the politically powerful heed the advice of independent committees composed of artists respected in their fields -->  CORRECT. Countering the authors point by mentioning committees headed by artists as supervisory authority for distributing funds. And as artists they will support creativity of other fellow artists

cssk · Answer

How could choice B not correct? It tells that many people who would not otherwise experience the arts have had the opportunity to do so because of government funding. So rephrasing the choice would mean that government funding did not hinder creativity of arts.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Ajax1 · Answer

The question is not of whether government support allows more people to appreciate the arts but of whether government funding will curb artistic expression or skew it towards one side. People can appreciate arts even when the artists have been only creating the kind of art that the government in power has sanctioned, but in this case there will be no freedom of expression.

email2vm · Answer

Can anyone please explain why answer C is not a good contender

kinjiGC · Answer

The conclusion is : Government support for the arts will almost certainly interfere with the freedom of the creative process
Premise : Practicing artists will alter their own work accordingly, pursuing government funds at the expense of their own inner-directed development.

Option C) while it can be argued that political ideas swing in and out of fashion, it is equally arguable that trends in the arts are often short-lived.

It is neutral. The option is neither saying the trends are influenced by Government Money nor denying it. Trends are short lived.

email2vm · Answer

Isn't the conclusion : Practicing artists will alter their own work accordingly, pursuing government funds at the expense of their own inner-directed development.
 
I have to accept that I am little confused here.

kinjiGC · Answer

The  first Premise  is : Money, inevitably controlled by the politically powerful, will accumulate around established, conservative institutions when a certain philosophy prevails, or shift to the more experimental and radical groups when the political pendulum swings.
Now the  2nd premise  which is dependent on the "swing" is : Practicing artists will alter their own work accordingly, pursuing government funds at the expense of their own inner-directed development.
What is the  conclusion  : Government support for the arts will almost certainly interfere with the freedom of the creative process
Now the sentence "Government support for the arts will almost certainly interfere with the freedom of the creative process" cannot be a premise as no other sentence is dependent on this sentence.

chesstitans · Answer

B talks about people who have benefits from the funds, so B is out of scope and B does not help to weaken the argument which is about the impact of the politics on arts.
D is surely nonsense.
A is rather a strengthener. 
C is a trap. C sounds like C does partly strengthen the argument. Also, C does not directly link with the argument which is about "Government support for the arts will almost certainly interfere with the freedom of the creative process."
E is correct b/c of "independent"

VerbalBot · Answer

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Government support for the arts will almost certainly

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Government support for the arts will almost certainly

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