PrepTest 106, Section 3, Question 18
The human brain and its associated mental capacities(43 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(15 more words not shown)
- AAll human adaptations(14 more words not shown)
- BHuman capacities that(14 more words not shown)
- CIf something develops(20 more words not shown)
- DJudgments that depend(12 more words not shown)
- EAnything that enhances(10 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why should the original purpose decide how we judge something now?
The author says our mental capacities evolved to help us survive. Even accepting that story, I don't yet see why a judgment about a painting must be graded by how much it helps the viewer stay alive. We might appreciate its colors or composition without making survival the test.
There is also a step from the brain's general evolutionary role to the role of this particular capacity. Perhaps some features developed as byproducts rather than because they each improved survival. But the conclusion's most obvious jump is from an account of how the ability developed to a rule for evaluating its use.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for a principle supporting that reasoning. We need a rule connecting the original function with the proper standard today: when something develops to serve a function, judge it by how well it serves that function. That would carry the survival premise into the conclusion about how aesthetic judgments must be evaluated.
Working the answers
- A
This makes a broad claim about where human adaptations came from. It doesn't tell us how to evaluate a judgment now. Even if every adaptation were based on the brain, we would still need a reason to use survival as the standard for assessing aesthetic judgments.
- B
The author wants a particular method of evaluation, not a rule saying some capacities cannot be evaluated. B tells us what to do with capacities that don't contribute to the species' biological success. It doesn't establish how to judge a person's aesthetic decisions or why individual survival is the required measure.
- CCorrect
Apply the rule to the author's account. The capacity developed to serve self-preservation; therefore, the standard for judging it is how well it serves self-preservation. That supplies the connection from the ability's original function to the proposed way of evaluating an individual's judgments.
We can still disagree with the principle in ordinary life. The question asks what would justify the reasoning if the principle were valid. C directly supports the move we challenged.
- D
Judging something true or false is different from judging how much it promotes survival. The author doesn't say a taste judgment must count as a true or false statement. D could leave that question unsettled while giving us no reason to adopt the survival standard.
- E
Helping a species multiply isn't the same as helping this individual survive. And saying something deserves high value doesn't establish that its original function must supply the standard for evaluating it. E concerns a favorable result and how to value it; C supplies the rule linking development to evaluation that the argument needs.
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