Self-study
Support The judgment that an artist is great always rests on assessments of the work the artist has produced. █ ██████ ██ █████ █████ ██ ███ ████ █████████ ██ ██████████ ██████████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ██████ ██ █████ ██ ████ ██ █████████ ███ ███████ ██ ███ ██ ███ █████ ██████ ███ ███ ████████ █████████ ███ ███████ ██ █████ ███ ██████████ ███ ███████ ██ ███ ████████ ███████ ██ ██████ ██████
Method of Reasoning
The author concludes that knowing an artist is great does not help you predict how good his future works will be. His reasoning is that previously creating great works is a necessary condition for being considered a great artist in the first place.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author’s conclusion is extreme: previous great works provide no basis for predicting the quality of future works. The flaw in his reasoning is assuming that a history of great works is only a necessary condition for being considered great. It’s possible that it also provides a basis for predictions about the quality of future work.
Suppose a painter’s 1000 previous paintings have been great. That could be both necessary to consider him a great artist, and good reason to believe the 1001st painting will also be great.
25.
Which one of the following ████████ ████████████ █████████ ████ ███████ ██ ████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████
a
The only way ██ ███████ ███████ ███████ ███ █ ████ ██ ██ ███████ █████████ █████ ████ █ ██████ ██ ████ ██ ████ █ █████ ████ █████ ████ ████ ██ ██ ███ ███ █████████ ███ ████████ ██ █ █████ ███ ██ ██████████ █████ ███ █████████ ██████ ████████ ██ ██████████
(A) concludes that knowing a patient has a cold does not help you predict his future symptoms. The reasoning is that previously displaying symptoms of a cold is a necessary condition for being diagnosed with a cold in the first place.
This is the same kind of extreme conclusion, based on the same flawed reasoning, as the stimulus. Having symptoms of a cold may be a necessary condition for a diagnosis of a cold. But we have no reason to believe that’s their only significance. It’s possible that a history of cold symptoms also helps you predict future symptoms.
b
Although colds are ████ ███████ █████ ███ ████ ██████ ███ █████ ██ ████ ████ ██████ █████ ██████ ███████ █████ ██████ ████ ██ ██ ████ ███ ███████████████ █████████ ████ ██████ ███ █████ █████ ███████████
This is the wrong flaw. (B) fails to consider that other factors (e.g. location or preventive medicine) could explain why some people don’t catch colds. By contrast, the stimulus erroneously assumes that, if something is a necessary condition, it must have no other significance.
c
Someone who has █ ████ ██ ████████ ██ █ ████ ██████ ██ ███ ███ ██ ████████ ██ ███ ████ ████ █████ ██████ ███ █████ ███ ████████████ ████ █████████ ████ ████████ ██████████ ██ ██ ███ ████████ ██ ███████ ████ █ ████████ ███████ ██ █████████ ███ ███████████ ██ ██ ███ ████ ██ ██ ███ ███████
This does not have the same clear flaw as the stimulus. (C) contends that, because two categories (previously caught viruses and potential future viruses) are distinct, past results do not help you predict the future. By contrast, the stimulus erroneously assumes that, if something (a history of past great results) is a necessary condition, it must have no other significance.
(C) would be a better parallel if the stimulus had said: Every great work of art requires a unique stroke of inspiration. So it is not possible to predict whether an artist will produce great works in the future based on his past work.
d
The viruses that █████ █████ ███ ███ ███ ███ █████ ███ ████ ██████ ██ █████ ████████ ██████████ ████████ ██ ███ ██ ███████ ████ █ ██████ ███ █ █████ ██ ██ ██████████ ██ ███████ ███ ███ ████ ████ █████████
This is the wrong flaw. (D) fails to consider that, although viruses may differ in their effects, doctors may be able to determine which virus is causing a particular cold. By contrast, the stimulus erroneously assumes that, if something is a necessary condition, it must have no other significance.
e
Unless a person ████████ ████ █████████ ██ ██████ ████████ ██ ████ ████ ███ ██████ ███ █ █████ ███ ████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ █ ████ ██ ████ ███ ███████ ██ ████ █████ ████████ ██████████ ███ ███ █████ ██ ███████ ████ █ ██████ ███ █ █████
This is the wrong flaw. (E) fails to consider that, although other diseases may produce symptoms of colds, it’s possible no other disease produces all the symptoms of a cold at once. By contrast, the stimulus erroneously assumes that, if something is a necessary condition, it must have no other significance.