The purpose of a general theory of art is to explain every aesthetic feature that is found in any of the arts. Premodern general theories of art, however, focused primarily on painting and sculpture. Every premodern general theory of art, even those that succeed as theories of painting and sculpture, fails to explain some aesthetic feature of music.
Summary
The purpose of a general theory of art is to explain every aesthetic feature found in any form of art. Every premodern general theory of art fails to explain some aesthetic feature of music. Premodern general theories of art focus primarily on painting and sculpture.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
If music is art, then no premodern general theory of art achieves its purpose.
A
Any general theory of art that explains the aesthetic features of painting also explains those of sculpture.
This answer is unsupported. We know from the stimulus that premodern general theories of art primarily focus on painting and sculpture, but we don’t know if the same is true for any general theory of art.
B
A general theory of art that explains every aesthetic feature of music will achieve its purpose.
This answer is unsupported. The necessary condition for a general theory of art to achieve its purpose is for the theory to explain every aesthetic feature found in any art form. Only explaining every aesthetic feature of music is too narrow.
C
Any theory of art that focuses primarily on sculpture and painting cannot explain every aesthetic feature of music.
This answer is unsupported. The stimulus is limited to general theories of art and premodern general theories of art. “Any theory of art” is too strong.
D
No premodern general theory of art achieves its purpose unless music is not art.
This answer is strongly supported. If we were to (safely) assume that music is an art form, then premodern general theories of art fail to achieve their purpose outlined in the first sentence.
E
No premodern general theory of art explains any aesthetic features of music that are not shared with painting and sculpture.
This answer is unsupported. We don’t know from the stimulus if there are any aesthetic features that music, painting, and sculpture do not share.
Science teacher: In any nation, a flourishing national scientific community is essential to a successful economy. For such a community to flourish requires that many young people become excited enough about science that they resolve to become professional scientists. Good communication between scientists and the public is necessary to spark that excitement.
Summary
If a nation has a successful economy, it must have a flourishing national scientific community. If the nation has a flourishing national community, it needs to have many young people who are excited enough about science to want to become scientists. If this excitement exists, there must be good communication between scientists and the public.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
Successful economy -> flourishing scientific community -> young people excited - > good communication between scientists and the public.
You can make any valid inference along this chain.
A
If scientists communicate with the public, many young people will become excited enough about science to resolve to become professional scientists.
Scientists communicating with the public is not a sufficient condition that can trigger any valid inferences. If you got this wrong, practice conditional indicators, mapping, and following lawgic chains.
B
The extent to which a national scientific community flourishes depends principally on the number of young people who become excited enough about science to resolve to become professional scientists.
While young people's excitement about science is necessary for a national scientific community to flourish, there is no evidence that *the number* of these students is principally important.
C
No nation can have a successful economy unless at some point scientists have communicated well with the public.
This is supported because it is a valid inference on the formal logic chain (Successful economy -> good communication). If you struggled to map this, practice mapping with two conditional indicators.
D
It is essential to any nation’s economy that most of the young people in that nation who are excited about science become professional scientists.
This is too strong to support. The stimulus only says that many young people need to be excited about science, not “most.”
E
An essential component of success in any scientific endeavor is good communication between the scientists involved in that endeavor and the public.
This is not supported because the stimulus never gives conditions for the success of any scientific endeavor.