Self-study
Jewel collectors, fearing that their eyes will be deceived by a counterfeit, will not buy a diamond unless the dealer guarantees that it is genuine. ███ ███ ██████ █ ███████████ ████ ███ ████ █████████ ████████ ████ ███ █████ ███ ██████ ███████████ ██ ████ █ ████ ████████ ████ ██████ ██████ ██ ██████ ██ █████ ██████
Summary
The author concludes that a counterfeit diamond should be worth the same as a real one. She supports this by saying that both should bring the same amount of aesthetic pleasure when they can’t be distinguished by the naked eye.
Notable Assumptions
The author says that both jewels should be worth the same, but her premises never establish how we should determine jewels’ worth. She assumes that a jewel’s aesthetic pleasure is an important factor in determining its worth and that it’s more important than whether the jewel is real or fake.
To help justify her reasoning, we need a premise that satisfies this assumption and confirms that a counterfeit diamond should be worth the same as a real one when they can’t be distinguished by the naked eye.
15.
Which one of the following ███████████ ██ ██████ ████ █████ ██ ███████ ███ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████
a
Jewel collectors should ███████ ████ █████ ██████ ████ ███████ ███ ████ █████████ █████████
Leads to the wrong conclusion. The author’s conclusion is about how much certain jewels should be worth, not about which kind of jewels collectors should collect. (A) doesn’t establish that a counterfeit diamond should be worth the same as a real one.
b
The value of █ █████ ██████ ██████ ██ █████ ██████ ██ ██████ ███████
We don’t know the market demand of counterfeit and real diamonds. Instead, we need to help justify the conclusion by establishing that the value of a jewel should depend on the aesthetic pleasure that it brings.
c
It should not ██ ███████ ████ ████████ ███ █████ ████████ ████████ ███ ████ ██████ ██ █████████ ████████ ████ █████
We’re not trying to determine whether everyone gets the same amount of aesthetic pleasure from diamonds. Instead, we’re trying to establish that, when real and fake diamonds bring the same amount of aesthetic pleasure, they should be worth the same.
d
The value of █ █████ ██████ ██████ ██████ ████ ███ █████████ ████████ ██ █████████
Fake diamonds and real diamonds should bring the same amount of aesthetic pleasure, since they’re indistinguishable by the naked eye. If a jewel’s value should be based only on its aesthetic pleasure, then real and fake diamonds should be worth the same.
e
Jewel collectors should ███ ███ ███████████ ██████ ██████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ ███████████ ███████████ ██████ ████ ████ █████
This leads to the wrong conclusion. The conclusion isn’t about whether collectors should or should not buy certain jewels. Instead, it’s about how much certain jewels should be worth.