#26 - CR, Except, Purpose/Function, Must Be True

[MaryamAfzal]

Where in the passage is E stated? I cannot seem to find it. And how is the answer choice A?

[Eric Ockert]

Hi Maryam!

Answer choice (E) can be found near the beginning of the passage in the description, "instead of investigating private evidence (10) perceivable only to a particular individual..."

Answer choice (A) is correct because we are never given that perspective in the passage. The objective scientists would certainly adopt an objective approach when dealing with this kind of phenomena, but that doesn't prove that the author thinks that subjective scientists would necessarily adopt the subjective approach over this particular situation.

[kingzjq]

I am very confused about why A is incorrect. These philosophers are subjectivists, and they believe that scientists, who are objectivists, should adopt the subjective approach.

In my view, this should be true because subjectivists argue knowledge should include subjective experience. But in your explanation, you said A is the opposite.

I doubt C because "essential" is not mentioned in the article; and I doubt E because "available only to a particular individual" ---the article said "instead of investigating ...only to a particular individual, scientists pursue..." (para1). This is a description of scientists, how does it relate to subjectivists? Are subjectivists totally opposite to scientists?

[Christen Hammock]

Hi King!

(A) is the correct answer for this problem. You're spot on that, in general, the passage argues that scientists should take the subjective approach into consideration. In the passage, though, the author specifically references the study of how nerves transmit impulses to the brain as the type of "hard data" that scientists typically consider.

Answer Choice (C) is definitely something the author would agree with, even though the word "essential" isn't explicitly used. The main idea behind the subjectivists is that it is necessary to go beyond hard objective data to study the mind.

Answer choice (E) basically defines "subjective"! Philosophers use evidence that only occurs inside someone's mind, in contrast to the "hard," objective data that scientists use.

[powerscoreQasker]

(A) is the correct answer for this problem. You're spot on that, in general, the passage argues that scientists should take the subjective approach into consideration. In the passage, though, the author specifically references the study of how nerves transmit impulses to the brain as the type of "hard data" that scientists typically consider.

I'm wondering if I missed something. To me, it seems like the author doesn't argue that scientists should do anything differently, or that philosophers should adopt or even soften toward either the objectivist or subjectivist approach. Instead, as I see it, the author argues that the two approaches should try to find common ground for debate through epistemological examination. I'm also not sure whether the subjectivist philosophers want scientists to change their approach - the last sentence of paragraph two indicates at least that the subjectivists see the objective approach in science as being inadequate in philosophy, but I didn't read it as going further and saying that scientists themselves should change. Maybe A) would be more in line with the passage if it said, "These philosophers believe certain other philosophers should adopt the subjective approach [in this specific example]..." but even then, that's not something the author specifically says.

But then again, I may have missed something. Do you see evidence that the author or the subjectivists advocate scientists doing anything different?

[Jeremy Press]

Hi Qasker,

I definitely agree with this statement of yours: "the author argues that the two approaches should try to find common ground for debate through epistemological examination." That's the takeaway from the religion analogy and the entire last paragraph. I also agree that the author doesn't adopt a firm side here (for or against the subjectivists or objectivists).

The reason answer choice A is correct on this question is what Eric laid out earlier in the thread: the author doesn't discuss how the philosophers who are loyal to subjectivity when studying the mind would deal (or recommend dealing) with the study of phenomena like "how nerves transmit impulses to the brain." So that can't be one of the "reasons" the author characterizes them as "loyal to subjectivity." Their loyalty to subjectivity comes from other sources (the ones referenced in answers B through E).

I hope this helps!

[ashpine17]

so scientsits loyal to subjectivity would favor subjective approach if it has data that conflicts with objective approach but they wouldn't necessarily go for subjective approach when it comes to specific topics like with A???

[ashpine17]

i just feel that answer choice A can be inferred even if it is not explicitly suppoorted

[ashpine17]

is this pasage more like two groups of philosophers having conflict between which approach they should take when studying the mind or subjective philosophers versus objective scientsits

[Luke Haqq]

Hi ashpine17!

Regarding answer choice (A), that answer choice states of the philosophers loyal to subjectivity that, "These philosophers believe scientists should adopt the subjective approach when studying phenomena such as how nerves transmit impulses to the brain."

This answer choice seems problematic because of lines 24-27, which is a hypothetical question that the author indicates that philosophers loyal to subjectivity raise: "Why should philosophy ally itself with scientists who would reduce the sources of knowledge to only those data that can be discerned objectively?" The italicized language indicates the skepticism from philosophers loyal to subjectivity at the prospect of looking to scientists (who employ the objective approach). Answer choice (A) doesn't capture their skepticism toward allying with science.

To your third post, it seems like it's two groups of philosophers that are foregrounded in the passage. The first paragraph starts out, "Some philosophers ..." Then the second starts, "But philosophers ...," introducing a second group of philosophers that contrasts with the first group in a given field of philosophy. The first group of philosophers do share a feature in common with scientists. According to the author, that group of philosophers and scientists both focus only on externally observable data (rather than private experience).

Finally, it can be helpful to write down a "V" for "view" in the margins of the passage, with a subscript for the view being expressed. Having this shorthand can make it easier to see and sort through different viewpoints that a passage might contain. You might put a V next to where each group of philosophers is defined, as well as one for scientists, but it's important to include one for the author as well. The author of a passage might merely present the viewpoints of others, or the author might additionally interject the author's own viewpoint (which might agree with one side, or with none of them, or provide a different alternative to the views presented).