Bunuel wrote:
According to the philosophy of nihilism, life is given meaning by neither sacred nor secular principles, the very worth of human institutions regarded with skepticism.
A. neither sacred nor secular principles, the very worth of human institutions regarded with skepticism
B. neither sacred or secular principles, the very worth of human institutions being regarded skeptically
C. no principles, either sacred or secular, because the very worth of human institutions is regarded with skepticism
D. no sacred or secular principles, regarding the very worth of human institutions with skepticism
E. neither sacred nor secular principles, and the very worth of human institutions is regarded with skepticism
Official ExplanationIn the original sentence, one potentially troublesome construction, “neither . . . nor,” is correct as written. However, the first clause, ending with “. . . principles,” is not correctly joined to the second. The second clause needs words added to make it an independent or subordinate clause with a subject and verb or to make it a phrase that modifies the “philosophy of nihilism” or its practitioners. Eliminate choice (A) and see which answer choice correctly connects the ideas in this sentence.
Choice (B) changes “nor” to “or,” introducing an error in the “neither . . . nor” construction. Also, by using the gerund “being” in the second part, it turns “regarded” into an adjective rather than a verb. Thus, there is no longer a separate action with respect to “human institutions.” Instead, the worth of human institutions is being used to explain how nihilists give life no meaning, but how nihilists give life no meaning is already explained by the phrase about principles. This answer choice changes the meaning of the original sentence—eliminate.
Choice (C) uses “because” to start the second clause, which changes the meaning of the sentence. Eliminate.
Choice (D) changes the first part of the underlined portion in an acceptable way, using “no . . . or.” However, making the second part into a modifying phrase starting with “regarding” introduces the problem that it is unclear who or what is doing the regarding. The closest noun is the “principles” rejected by the nihilists, but it is the nihilists and not the principles they reject that have a bleak view of human institutions. The next closest noun, and one that is not inside a prepositional phrase, is “life,” but it also makes no sense for life to have a viewpoint on human institutions.
The correct answer is choice (E). This choice correctly maintains the “neither . . . nor” construction, and it joins the clauses with “and” and gives the second clause a complete verb, “is regarded,” to create two independent clauses.