Shanna: Owners of Any Work of Art, Simply by Virtue of Ownership GMAT Critical Reasoning

Question: Shanna: Owners of any work of art, simply by virtue of ownership, ethically have the right to destroy that artwork if they find it morally or aesthetically distasteful, or if caring for it becomes inconvenient.

Jorge: Ownership of unique artworks, unlike ownership of other kinds of objects, carries the moral light to possess but not to destroy. A unique work of art with aesthetic or historical value belongs to posterity and so must be preserved, whatever the personal wishes of its legal owner.

On the basis of their statements, Shanna and Jorge are committed to disagreeing about the truth of which one of the following statements?

1. Anyone who owns a portrait presenting his or her father in an unflattering light would for that reason alone be ethically justified in destroying it.
2. People who own aesthetically valuable works of art have no moral obligation to make them available for public viewing.
3. Valuable paintings by well-known artists are seldom intentionally damaged or destroyed by their owners.
4. If a piece of sculpture is not unique, its owner has no ethical obligation to preserve it if doing so proves burdensome.
5. It is legally permissible for a historically valuable mural to be destroyed by its owner if he or she tries it.

Shanna: Owners of Any Work of Art, Simply by Virtue of Ownership, Ethically have the Right to Destroy that Artwork- is a GMAT Critical question. This particular GMAT Critical Reasoning topic has been taken from the book ‘PowerScore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible’. In this question, the candidates need to Judge the statements provided by the author. Then they need to select the correct answer from the provided options. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates. Critical reasoning in GMAT requires candidates to find the argument's strengths and weaknesses or the logical flaw in the argument.  The GMAT CR section contains 10 -13 GMAT critical reasoning questions out of 36 GMAT verbal questions.

Answer: A
Explanation: This is a GMAT critical reasoning question. We have to find the option that both Shanna and Jorge disagree with. Let’s go through each option individually and select the one that is most suitable.

Option A: Correct
-This option states that any person who has a portrait that presents his or her father in a bad light is right to destroy it. The statement suggests that if the portrait is unflattering and distasteful, the owner has every right to destroy it. Jorge would disagree with this statement as he wants to clarify whether the portrait is unique or not. So, Option A is correct.

Option B: Incorrect
-According to this statement, People who are in possession of valuable art pieces are not morally obliged to present them for public viewing. The argument in the question only talks about destroying valuable art pieces and not about presenting them in front of the public. So, Option B is incorrect.

Option C: Incorrect
-As per the option, paintings that are unique and valuable are not very often intentionally destroyed by people who own them. The statement is a stated fact. Disagreement on this statement will not be relevant to the destruction of art pieces by their legal owners. Also, we don’t know if the statement is true or not. Some pieces may be destroyed by their owners for unknown reasons. Since the statement is irrelevant to the argument, Option C is incorrect.

Option D: Incorrect
-The above statement states that a sculpture is not unique, the owner of that piece has no obligation to preserve it if it becomes difficult for him. There will be no disagreement between the two on this matter as Jorge only argues against the right to destroy only the unique pieces of art and not each and every art present by its owners. So, Option D is incorrect.

Option E: Incorrect
-It states that a historically valuable sculpture can be destroyed by its owner as it is legally permissible. The legality of destroying the art pieces is not in question. This statement is irrelevant to the argument said in the passage. So, Option E is incorrect.

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