Q17 - The purpose of a general

[frankdio]

I was able to narrow this down to A and D.


when I diagram D

PMGt art achieve purpose -->~MA

MA--> PMGt art ~ achieve purpose

This makes sense as the right answer. The nerds owned me with all of the negative language so I didnt diagram it initially.

But, why is A wrong?

The stimulus clearly states that the purpose of a general theory of art is to explain every aesthetic feature that is found in any of the arts

Am I assuming too much when I categorize painting and sculpture as art?

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

The short answer for why answer choice (A) is not supported by the statements in the stimulus is that answer choice (A) neglects to consider that a general theory of art might explain the aesthetic features of painting without explaining those of sculpture. Remember, there is a difference between having a purpose and actually accomplishing that goal. We know that the purpose of a general theory of art is to explain every aesthetic feature that is found in any of the arts, but that doesn't mean that every general theory of art actually accomplishes that goal.

Notice that in answer choice (D) the discussion is about "achiev[ing] its purpose," whereas in answer choice (A) the discussion is about "explain[ing] the aesthetic features."

Answer choice (D) is supported because we know that premodern general theories of art fail to explain some aesthetic features of music. We also know that the purpose of a general theory of art is to explain every aesthetic feature that is found in any of the arts. Thus, no premodern general theory of art could achieve its purpose unless music is not an art - perfectly stated in answer choice (D).

(A) is unsupported. We don't know about general theories of art that do not achieve their purpose, so it's possible that a general theory of art could explain the aesthetic features of painting without explaining those of sculpture.
(B) is unsupported. This requires the additional assumption that those theories would also explain every aesthetic feature of all of the other arts besides music.
(C) is unsupported. We don't know that such a theory would explain every aesthetic feature of music, but that doesn't mean that the theory wouldn't do so.
(E) is unsupported. The statements do not permit us to determine which of the aesthetic features of music premodern general theories of art fail to explain.

I hope that helps. Let me know if you still have further questions on this one!

#officialexplanation

[skapur777]

Is E incorrect because:

The argument goes that a theory must explain all features found in ALL the arts, regardless of if two different art forms share them or not. E is incorrect because it COULD explain some aesthetic features that are common to just music and not shared by painting and sculpture, it just fails to explain ALL features of music and thus fails to achieve its purpose as a theory that must explain all features of art...that is...unless music is not an art form. Which led me to D!

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

You got it, great work!

[peg_city]

Can someone inference D?

Is it

Premodern general theory achieves its purpose -> Music is not art???

Thanks

[328035622]

I am sorry, but I still have question after read above posts. Now I know why E is incorrect, but in my opinion, choose D still need to make assumption that is there is not art other than painting, sculpture and music.then we can draw the conclusion that because music is not art, then the theory achieve all of its purpose to explain every aesthetic feature that is found in any form of art. Am I make some mistakes here? Anyone point it out will be really appreciate

[YT]

I am sorry, but I still have question after read above posts. Now I know why E is incorrect, but in my opinion, choose D still need to make assumption that is there is not art other than painting, sculpture and music.then we can draw the conclusion that because music is not art, then the theory achieve all of its purpose to explain every aesthetic feature that is found in any form of art. Am I make some mistakes here? Anyone point it out will be really appreciate

I had the same issue when I first encountered the answer choice. It does not say that music not being art is a sufficient condition for premodern general theory of art achieves it purpose. It does say that it is a required condition. In other words, music not being art does not guarantee that the purpose is achieved, but music being art does guarantee that the purpose is not achieved. If still not satisfied, I tried to diagram the stimulus and the answer choice below.

Stimulus:

Premise 1: General theory of art ---> Purpose of explaning every aesthetic feature found in any of the arts
Premise 2: Premodern general theory of art ---> Primary focus on painting and sculpture AND Failure to explain some aesthetic feature of music

SO we could infer, since premodern general theory of art is also a "general theory of art", that it has also the purpose of a general theory of art: explaining every aesthetic feature found in ANY OF THE ARTS. Therefore, since explaining all aesthetic features of any single one of the arts is a must for explaining all aesthetic features in all of the arts, failure to explain SOME aesthetic features of a single kind of art means not achieving the stated purpose. If we consider music as art, not achieving the stated purpose logically follows.

I would diagram (D) like: Music is art ---> No premodern general theory of art achieves its purpose.
Contrapositive: Some premodern general theories of art achieve their purpose ---> Music is not art.

This choice would require the assumption that you've stated—"there is no art other than painting, sculpture and music"—if it was saying the reverse of the contrapositive, "If music is not an art, then some premodern general theories of art achieve their purpose." That is the mistaken reversal of the answer choice (D).

I hope that clarifies for everyone who lived the same issue.

[emily315]

I got it wrong by choosing C.....
and it seems I didn't really understand what the prompt is saying....so let's try to break it down

basically

1. the purpose of [any general theory of art] is explain every aesthetic feature in any arts
2. premodern general theory of art, focus on painting and sculpture, not in any arts. So no explain of aesthetic feature in music.

a. is not supported by the passage......vaguely....and makes 2 irrelevant
b. sounds good....but makes 2 irrelevant....
c. any theory of art is different from a general theory of art.....
d. pointed out the logical conflict lies between 1 and 2 by pointing out that if premodern general theory of art cannot explain aesthetic feature in music, then it could not achieve the purpose of expalin every aesthetic feature in any arts
e. wrong focus, not about share....