People may praise the talent of a painter capable of

Question

People may praise the talent of a painter capable of realistically portraying a scene and dismiss as artistically worthless the efforts of abstract expressionists, but obviously, an exact replica of the scene depicted is not the only thing people appreciate in a painting, for otherwise, photography would have entirely displaced painting as an art form.

The argument proceeds by

(A) using a claim about what most people appreciate to support an aesthetic principle

(B) appealing to an aesthetic principle to defend the tastes that people have

(C) explaining a historical fact in terms of the artistic preferences of people

(D) appealing to a historical fact to support a claim about people's artistic preferences

(E) considering historical context to defend the artistic preferences of people

LSAT 70

AshutoshB · Answer

QUESTION TYPE:  Method of Reasoning

CONCLUSION:  People appreciate paintings for more than being exact replicas of scenes.

REASONING:  If people only cared about replicating scenes, then photography would have completely eliminated paintings.

ANALYSIS:  The first few lines are just context. I’ve summarized the reasoning above.

This is a good argument. We all know that a camera can replicate a scene more accurately and more quickly than a painter can.

Yet people still paint, and people still enjoy new paintings. So there must be some other things that people like about paintings.

A couple of the answers mention that the argument is a defense of people’s taste. It isn’t. The argument may perhaps defend abstract impressionism, but the argument isn’t defending the fact that people like more than realism in paintings. That’s just a fact that the argument wants to prove.

___________

A. The stimulus doesn’t mention “what most people appreciate”. This couldn’t possibly be the right answer. Also, the conclusion is not about an abstract principle. The conclusion is about what people appreciate in paintings.

B. What aesthetic principle? The stimulus doesn’t mention any. And the argument isn’t defending people’s tastes. It’s merely describing them.

C. The stimulus is talking about the present, not about history. The stimulus uses a historical fact, but only to make a claim about what’s true in the present.

D. CORRECT. The historical fact is that photography hasn’t displaced painting. The claim is that people like paintings for more than their ability to reproduce scenes.

E. The argument doesn’t say that people are right to like paintings for more than their realism. This argument is not a defense of people’s tastes.

gullyboy09 · Answer

Hi  MartyMurray , will you be able to help me with what is the difference between "to defend" and "to support" in this context?

guddo · Answer

People may praise the talent of a painter capable of realistically portraying a scene and dismiss as artistically worthless the efforts of abstract expressionists, but obviously, an exact replica of the scene depicted is not the only thing people appreciate in a painting, for otherwise, photography would have entirely displaced painting as an art form. 
 
The argument proceeds by

The argument’s structure is that  it uses the fact that painting was not displaced by photography to support a claim about what people value in painting . In other words, it appeals to a historical fact to draw a conclusion about people’s artistic preferences.

(A) using a claim about what most people appreciate to support an aesthetic principle

This is not correct. The argument is not trying to establish a broad aesthetic principle. It is making a claim about what people appreciate in painting.

(B) appealing to an aesthetic principle to defend the tastes that people have

This reverses the direction. The argument does not start with an aesthetic principle and then defend people’s tastes.

(C) explaining a historical fact in terms of the artistic preferences of people

This is not what happens. The argument does not explain why photography failed to displace painting. It uses that fact as evidence.

(D) appealing to a historical fact to support a claim about people's artistic preferences

This is the best answer. The historical fact is that photography did not entirely displace painting. That fact is used to support the claim that people appreciate more in painting than exact realistic representation.

(E) considering historical context to defend the artistic preferences of people

This is too vague. The argument is not defending people’s tastes. It is inferring what those tastes must be.

Answer: (D)

MartyMurray · Answer

In the context of choice (B), "to defend" means "to justify" or "to show to be reasonable." In other words, (B) is saying that the argument proceeds by using an established principle to show that people's tastes are good or make sense.

In (E), "to defend" is used in basically the same way. (E) is saying that the argument proceeds by using historical context to justify people's preferences.

Regarding, "to support," it's used in two somewhat different ways in two answer choices.

In (A), "to support" is somewhat synonymous with "to defend." In (A), "to support" means "to make a case for" or "show to make sense."

In (B), "to support" means "to provide evidence in support of" or "to indicate that a claim is true."

Hope that helps!

People may praise the talent of a painter capable of

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People may praise the talent of a painter capable of

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