#18 - The human brain and its associated mental capacities

[srcline@noctrl.edu]

Hello,

So I think I'm having a hard time understanding what the question stem is asking. So is this justify the conclusion question. I haven't seen many of these come up so maybe I'm being thrown off. With these types of questions we are trying to prove that the conclusion is 100 % true.

Conclusion: So an individual's aesthetic judgments must be evaluated in terms of extent to which they promote the survival of that individual.

So in going through my test I can see why B is not correct b/c the argument does not mention biological success, only aesthetic judgments. So its out of scope. Same thing with D and E correct? Also I crossed out A b/c the wording to me seems to extreme.

As for C, the question is asking for a principle C states that " If something develops to serve a given function, the standard by which it must be judged is how well it serves that function. By process of elimination C is left, but Im not seeing how this answer choice makes sense. The part where it says "if something develops to serve a given function" does that correspond to the part in the conclusion where it states " promote survival of that individual?

Thankyou
Sarah

[Clay Cooper]

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for another good question.

This is actually a strengthen question (and a principle question, as you point out), not a justify question. You are on the right track though with what you are looking for in an answer.

Answer choice C is correct because it links the new information in the conclusion to the evidence that precedes it. Our conclusion states that a person's aesthetic judgments must be evaluated in terms of the extent to which they promote the survival of that individual. Why, though?

We are given information about how aesthetic judgments evolved, but nothing that suggests how they should be judged. Answer choice C bridges that gap; if it were true, then the aesthetic judgments we still have must be judged based on the way they evolved - to assist our survival - and our conclusion is much stronger.

I hope that helps.

[Tuothekhazar]

The conclusion is - An Individual's aesthetic judgments must be evaluated in terms of the extent to which they promote the survival of the individual.

SO based on the conclusions, we know 3 things are happening

A. Something developed as forming the aesthetic judgments along with the the process of adapting past environment to assist self - preservations.

B. That thing must promote the survival of the individual

C. That thing is able to be evaluated based on the degree how well it promotes

Lets see the answer C

If something developed ( A ) to serve a given function ( B ), the standard by which is must be judged ( C ) is how well it serves that function.


Hope this helps

[KelseyWoods]

Hi Tuothekhazar!

You're on the right track, but I would word it a little differently for the sake of making it clearer and more precise. We don't know those 3 things "based on the conclusion." They are given as support for the conclusion.

For a Strengthen-Principle question, we're basically looking for a broad, abstract rule in our answer choices that matches the reasoning of the argument in the stimulus. So it's important to fully understand the argument.

As you said, the main conclusion is the last sentence. The first two sentences support that main conclusion.

Premise: "The human brain and its associated mental capacities evolved to assist self-preservation."

Intermediate Conclusion: "The capacity to make aesthetic judgments is an adaptation to past environments in which humans lived."

Main Conclusion: "An individual's aesthetic judgments must be evaluated in terms of the extent to which they promote the survival of that individual."

So, since all mental capacities evolved to assist self-preservation, then the capacity to make aesthetic judgments was an adaptation linked to self-preservation, which means that aesthetic judgments themselves should be evaluated based on the extent to which they fulfill that function of self-preservation.

Answer choice (C) is an abstract principle that matches the reasoning of our stimulus, so it Strengthens the reasoning and is therefore the correct answer.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey