B
Theorist: Hatred and anger, grief and despair, love and joy are pairs of emotions that consist of the same core feeling and are distinguishable from each other only in terms of the social conditions that cause them and the behavior they in turn cause. So even if the meaning of a given piece of music is the emotion it elicits, this can mean only that music produces the core of a given emotion, for music is merely sound and, ttherefore, by itself creates neither social conditions nor human behavior. The claim that music is merely sound plays which one of the following roles in the theorist's argument?
A: It is a generalization a particular instance of which is cited by the argument in order to undermine the viewpoint that the argument is attacking.
B: It is a claim that is offered as partial support for the argument's conclusion.
C: It is a portion of the conclusion drawn in the argument.
D: It is a hypothesis that must be rejected, according to the argument, because it is inconsistent with certain evidence.