What can be inferred about abstruse philosophers from the passage?
What can be inferred about abstruse philosophers from the passage?
The correct option is C They believe in the existence of a fundamental set of laws that govern human nature and work on exploring them.
Option A is only partially true. While the abstruse philosophers do attempt the understand the origins of human behavior, they do not entirely refrain from cultivating the manners of the masses. See the first line of paragraph 2 ‘endeavour to form his understanding more than cultivate his manners.’ Option B is out of the scope of the passage as there is no discussion on the development of philosophical thought. Option D seems to be deviously close but carefully observe what the author says in the last paragraph. He mentions that abstruse philosophers have been famous in their times but their fame has waned since then. So one cannot make a sweeping statement that ‘they have never been able to attain fame of the same magnitude as that of obvious philosophers’.
The first line of the second passage contains the phrase ‘in order to find those principles’. So the abstruse philosophers must first believe that there exist some basic laws that govern human nature before attempting to find them.
Option A is only partially true. While the abstruse philosophers do attempt the understand the origins of human behavior, they do not entirely refrain from cultivating the manners of the masses. See the first line of paragraph 2 ‘endeavour to form his understanding more than cultivate his manners.’ Option B is out of the scope of the passage as there is no discussion on the development of philosophical thought. Option D seems to be deviously close but carefully observe what the author says in the last paragraph. He mentions that abstruse philosophers have been famous in their times but their fame has waned since then. So one cannot make a sweeping statement that ‘they have never been able to attain fame of the same magnitude as that of obvious philosophers’.
The first line of the second passage contains the phrase ‘in order to find those principles’. So the abstruse philosophers must first believe that there exist some basic laws that govern human nature before attempting to find them.
