#22 - Gallery owner: Because this painting appears in no

[rosiel]

Hello,

Could someone please go over answer choices (A) (B) and (E)? I understand that (D) is clearly the best answer among the five, and I chose (D) while working on it. However, (A) (B) and (E) also seem to be valid criticisms in the context of this problem, and I feel that similar phrasings have appeared as answer choices in other problems too.

My question is, have any of these ever been the correct answer choice to a Flaw In The Reasoning question? Under what circumstances are they strong enough to be the central flaw in the argument? Thanks!

[Francis O'Rourke]

The gallery owner concludes that the evidence cited makes it "virtually certain" that this painting is a Van Gogh. The evidence this gallery owner provides is that:

1. The painting's subject was often used by van Gogh in other paintings
2. the broad brushstrokes and color combinations are typical of van Gogh

This is clearly too certain of a conclusion. Although the gallery owner strengthens the argument that this painting is a van Gogh, the owner provides no evidence that guarantees this is a van Gogh. We do not know how indicative of van Gogh the subject matter and painting style is, so another artist may have been the creater of this piece. Answer choice (D) states this point succinctly.

Answer choice (A) mentions a "general agreement" though no such agreement was mentioned in the stimulus

Answer choice (B) states that the gallery owner failed to cite an expert who could confirm that the point made concerning the subject matter. However, a gallery owner is likely enough to confirm what the subject matter of a painting is

Answer choice (C) deals with motivations for purchasing the painting, not the authenticity of the painting

Answer choice (E) states that it is in the gallery owner's self-interest to conclude that this is an authentic van Gogh. Although this may be a flaw is we knew that the gallery owner owned this piece, we are not told who owns the painting. Furthermore, self interest in itself would not be enough to claim that a conclusion is flawed: a self-interested speaker may still make a sound argument.

[teddykim100]

Hello,


regarding how (A) is about a topic which is "not brought up" in the stimulus, there are instances in ID the Flaw and Necessary Assumption Questions will have a correct answer choice that is not considered or brought up in the stimulus? What is the difference between an incorrect and correct answer choice in those types of situations?

[Paul Popa]

Hi Teddy,

Great question. Necessary assumption questions come from the Help family, and we are allowed to bring in outside information. Flaw in the reasoning questions like this one, however, are from the Prove family type, and we are never allowed to bring in outside information. We are only allowed to use what's in the stimulus to help us in identifying the flaw. For this reason, (A) fails because the gallery owner never mentioned any sort of consensus. They instead brought up various pieces of evidence to back up their belief regarding the authenticity of the van Gogh painting. Hope this helps!

[teddykim100]

very helpful Paul, thank you.