#24 - Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes is a stack of boxes that

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below!

[Iqranaqvi]

Hey,

Could you explain how E is the correct answer. I am getting confused by the wording of the answer. Thanks!

[James Finch]

Hi Iqranaqvi,

The first step to answering a Method question like this one correctly is to understand what is going on in the stimulus so that you can accurately Prephrase an answer. We're given two visually identical objects, one of which is considered art, the other not. This leads to the conclusion that appearance is not the sole criterion for whether an object is art or not. This is sound reasoning, and fairly straightforward: two things look the same, but are actually different, so looks can't be the sole determining factor of state of being. The evidence serves to disprove a potential hypothesis. This question is really testing a basic understanding of the scientific method.

This is one of those late-section tough questions where the correct answer choice is written in a deliberately obtuse manner. Thankfully, the other answer choices are more straightforward, and thus more straightforwardly incorrect. So this question I would answer by process of elimination, as my only potential contender after reading all five choices was the one that I was confused by. Of course if you have the time, it is worth working through what the language means in order to validate that (E) is in fact the correct answer choice.

So what does it mean? Let's go back to the Prephrase: evidence/premises is used to disprove a hypothesis/conclusion. (E) gives us a clue with its diction (using the word "thesis") despite the horrifying syntax; with answer choices like these, I rewrite them in my head in order to clarify their meaning. Here, if we rearrange the sentence to say "if a particular thesis were correct, something that is actually true would be impossible" gives us a meaning essentially the same as the Prephrase, making it correct.

Hope this clears things up!

[ali124]

Dear Powerscore,

While I understand why (E) is correct, could you help me understand why (A) is incorrect?
I chose (A) thinking that the stimulus highlighted the different between "things that are believed to have a certain property" (=believed to qualify as art; the packaging boxes) and "things that actually have that property" (=are actually considered an art; Warhol's boxes).

Is (A) wrong because the stimulus does not actually explain the difference between those two things, but just uses the boxes as an example to make an argument?

Also, just to clarify my understanding of (E), would it mean "if a particular thesis were correct (=if appearance alone determines art vs. not art), something that is actually true (=product packaging of scouring pads are not art) would be impossible (=product packaging qualify as art)"? This is such a confusing way to state something...

Thank you!

[James Finch]

Hi Ali,

(A) is describing a distinction being made between the subjective understanding and objective. However the stimulus is only describing two subjective situations, as denoted by the phrase "is considered:" in one case, the boxes are "considered" art, and in the other they are not. But this doesn't mean that either case is definitively, 100% certain, actual art. It's still subjective: either it's considered art or not, rather than being or not being art. So (A) isn't describing the stimulus at all.

Hope this clears things up!

[jm123]

Is D wrong because it goes too far with its wording by mentioning the word "assumption?" I chose D but upon review, I see no evidence about any assumption for a theory, and therefore it cannot be correct because it would fail the Fact Test. E would be correct in this case because the stimulus states "it is not true that appearance alone," in other words, "appearance alone" is the "thesis" and "it is not true that" is the "impossibility" mentioned in answer choice E. Am I on the right path with my reasoning? Thanks in advance.

[Adam Tyson]

Right on, jm123! This author never challenges any assumptions, so answer D describes something that didn't happen and fails that Fact Test. When you apply the details of the stimulus to the abstract components of answer E, you get a match for what actually occurred. Good work!

[mikewazowski]

Hi,

So is the "something that would be impossible" referring to the "stack of ordinary boxes being art"? That's the impossible something?

[Paul Marsh]

Hello again Mr. Wazowski!

Yes, that's generally correct. I would probably expand upon it a bit to make that "impossible something" the whole second sentence of the stimulus: "Warhol’s Brillo Boxes is considered a work of art, while an identical stack of ordinary boxes would not be considered a work of art". In other words, the idea that something could be art in one context but not another is that "impossible something" which cannot follow from the particular thesis identified in the last sentence of the stimulus.

Hope that helps!

[arvinm123]

Can someone explain why answer choice B) is incorrect? I construed it as such: the opposing argument is that "appearance alone entirely determines whether something is art" and the ambiguity is found in the equivocal distinction that two things that are visually identical are not both art.
So it makes sense to me that the argument proceeds by demonstrating that the opposing argument relies on this ambiguity

Any help would be appreciated.