Andy Warhol's Brillo Boxes is a stack of boxes that are visually indistinguishable from the product packaging of an a...

SamA on January 31, 2020

I am not able to see the answer that you chose, so I will discuss all of the answer choices.

Let's break down the argument.

Andy Warhol's Brillo Boxes presents a conundrum. It is a work of art that is identical to something that is not a work of art.

From this, the author makes a conclusion: "Therefore, it is not true that appearance alone entirely determines whether or not something is considered a work of art."

This seems to be a valid conclusion. These two things are visually indistinguishable, so there must be something other than appearance that makes one of them, and not the other, a work of art.

A. Does the author attempt to determine what is actually art vs. what is believed to be art? No, she makes no such judgement. She is only trying to say that a factor other than appearance must be involved in what is considered art.

B. The author is opposing the idea that "appearance alone entirely determines whether or not something is considered a work of art." However, she does so by presenting counterexamples, not by demonstrating ambiguity. An argument that could be interpreted in multiple different ways would be considered ambiguous. That is not the problem here.

C. The author is not saying that Brillo Boxes and a regular stack of boxes are the same type of thing. She only says that they are "visually indistinguishable," but acknowledges that one is considered art while the other isn't.

D. The author doesn't question any assumptions here.

E. This is the correct answer. What is the thesis in question? Appearance alone entirely determines whether or not something is considered a work of art. If this were true, then how could Warhol's Brillo Boxes be considered art when a regular stack of boxes isn't? This would be impossible. However, we have proof that this is the reality. Therefore, the thesis cannot be true

denleybishop on May 24, 2022

What!

Emil-Kunkin on June 28, 2022

Hi denleybishop,

Do you have a specific question about how the argument precedes, or about why some answers are wrong and one is right?