Page 119 - Žagar, Igor Ž. 2021. Four Critical Essays on Argumentation. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
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perception, infer ence, and understanding in visual argumentation (and beyond)
‘There is a woman in the painting, with a scarf on her head... I con-
clude that she has maybe died.’
‘There is a women in the picture that holds a letter in one hand,
while she is gazing in another direction with a sad expression on
her face..’
‘I see a woman in the picture, lying in the bathtub. She was proba-
bly writing a farewell letter.’
‘I see a woman who, with a last bit of energy, wrote a farewell letter.’
‘I see a woman who wrote a letter. She is lying on the counter, she
has a headdress on her head and wears a robe.’
I don’t think any commentary is needed, but nevertheless: if people
think Marat was a woman, then it is safe to conclude that they don’t know
at all who Marat was, and that they know even less what his role in the
French revolution was. Which undermines a good part of Groarke’s argu-
ment(s) if not all of it.
Let us have a look at the remaining part of the answers, answering the
question b).
19 respondents (out of 26), 73%, answered that the painting didn’t re-
mind them of anything, that seeing it doesn’t recall any memories whatso-
ever. The other seven answers were the following:
‘It reminds me of French revolution.’ (The same person who un-
der a) answered: ‘I see a man who was killed in a bathtub.’)
‘It reminds me of high school where we learned about this paint-
ing.’ (Under a that person answered that the man on the painting
committed suicide)
‘Maybe the end of some historical era, signing the contract with
death.’
‘Reminds me of assassinations that occurred through history.’
‘Reminds me of war, because at that time women wrote letters to
their husbands who went to war.’
‘The painting reminds me of suicide.’
‘The painting casts un ugly feeling.’
119
‘There is a woman in the painting, with a scarf on her head... I con-
clude that she has maybe died.’
‘There is a women in the picture that holds a letter in one hand,
while she is gazing in another direction with a sad expression on
her face..’
‘I see a woman in the picture, lying in the bathtub. She was proba-
bly writing a farewell letter.’
‘I see a woman who, with a last bit of energy, wrote a farewell letter.’
‘I see a woman who wrote a letter. She is lying on the counter, she
has a headdress on her head and wears a robe.’
I don’t think any commentary is needed, but nevertheless: if people
think Marat was a woman, then it is safe to conclude that they don’t know
at all who Marat was, and that they know even less what his role in the
French revolution was. Which undermines a good part of Groarke’s argu-
ment(s) if not all of it.
Let us have a look at the remaining part of the answers, answering the
question b).
19 respondents (out of 26), 73%, answered that the painting didn’t re-
mind them of anything, that seeing it doesn’t recall any memories whatso-
ever. The other seven answers were the following:
‘It reminds me of French revolution.’ (The same person who un-
der a) answered: ‘I see a man who was killed in a bathtub.’)
‘It reminds me of high school where we learned about this paint-
ing.’ (Under a that person answered that the man on the painting
committed suicide)
‘Maybe the end of some historical era, signing the contract with
death.’
‘Reminds me of assassinations that occurred through history.’
‘Reminds me of war, because at that time women wrote letters to
their husbands who went to war.’
‘The painting reminds me of suicide.’
‘The painting casts un ugly feeling.’
119
