Self-paced
Many artists claim that art critics find it is easier to write about art that they dislike than to write about art that they like. ███████ ██ ███ ████ ██████████ ██ ████████ ████ ███ █████████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ █████ ████ ████ ██ ███████ ███ ███████ █████ ██ ███████ ████ ████ ███ █████████ ██ ███████ ██ █████ █████ ████ ███ ████████ █████ ██ ████
Analysis: Sufficient Assumption
Notice that the argument starts with some other people's opinion that is not actually relevant to the author's argument: the claim made by many artists that art critics find it easier to write about art they dislike than about art they like. We know this claim isn't relevant to the argument because the author immediately dismisses its importance: "Whether or not this hypothesis is correct..."
So the author's actual premise is the statement that follows: most art criticism is devoted to art works that fail to satisfy the critic:
art criticism —most→ /satisfy critic
The conclusion is that most art criticism is devoted to works other than the greatest works of art:
art criticism —most→ /greatest works of art
Especially since we've diagrammed the premise and conclusion (which you may not even need to do), it should be easy to see the sufficient assumption that would bridge the premise → conclusion gap: if a work of art does not satisfy critics, then it is not one of the greatest works of art.
/satisfy critic → /greatest works of art
If we combine this assumption with the premise, we can get over the gap to the conclusion:
art criticism —most→ /satisfy critic
/satisfy critic → /greatest works of art
_______
art criticism —most→ /greatest works of art
14.
The conclusion above is properly █████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ████████
a
No art critic ██████ ███████ █████ ███ █████ ████ ██ ██ ███ ████████ ██████████
Incorrect. There's nothing in the premise or conclusion about a critic "intensely disliking" a work of art. This would map to:
art critic → /enjoy writing about art he or she intensely dislikes
This doesn't help us bridge our premise → conclusion gap.
b
All art critics ████ ██ █████████ ██ ████████ ███ █████ ████ █████ ███████ █████
Incorrect. This would map to:
art critic → difficult to find satisfying art
This doesn't bridge the gap we identified in our analysis.
c
A work of ███ ████ ████████ █████████ ████████ █████████ ███ ███████ ██████ ████ ██████ █████ ████ ██ █████████ █████ ████ █████
Incorrect. Remember that we're looking for an assumption that connects the ideas of a work of art not satisfying critics and a work of art not being the greatest. (C) is just a statement about the effect of critical attention on a work of art, so it isn't what we're looking for.
d
The greatest works ██ ███ ███ █████ ██████████ ██ ████ █████ ████ █████ ███ ████ ██ █████ █████████
Incorrect. This maps to:
greatest works of art → unrecognized until long after creation
This isn't what we're looking for. While this assumption talks about the greatest works of art, it doesn't connect that idea to art that doesn't satisfy critics.
e
The greatest works ██ ███ ███ █████ ████ ██████████ ███████ ███ ████████
Correct. This maps to:
greatest works of art → satisfy all critics
By the contrapositive, this tells us that if a work of art does not satisfy at least some critics, then it is not one of the greatest works of art:
/satisfy all critics → /greatest works of art
This maps on to the assumption we identified in our analysis.