The Vienna Circle, an association of philosophersgathered around the U

1. The main concern of the passage is to

(A) draw parallels between two philosophical movements and explain why a particular scientist embraced one of these movements at the expense of the other.
(B) relate a philosophical movement to a societal cause and contrast the movement’s intellectual objectives with those of a prominent scientist.
(C) discuss the origins of a philosophical movement and summarize its effect on the work of a prominent scientist.
(D) contrast two philosophical views and examine their relation to a third view.
(E) summarize the objectives of a philosophical movement and examine their relation to the views of a prominent scientist


From the passage, we get to know that: there was a philisophocial movement called the Vienna Circle formed in 1922 and that Einstein initially shared a their attitude, however, abandoned it later.
Let's check to see which option satisfies this thinking:
(A) Only one philosophical movement is talked about in the passage, therefore, this option is clearly incorrect.
(B) One can say that the movement related to a societal cause, however, the passage does not contrast the objectives of the movement with the ideas of Einstein.Incorrect
(C) The effects of the Vienna Circle on Einstein have not been discussed. The only thing mentioned is that the works of the scientist were published in the Circle's monographs.
(D) Again, this choice talks about 'two philosophical views'; but two views makes sense because one view pertains to that of the Vienna circe and the other to Einstein's view. However, there is no third view stated.
(E) This is the correct answer as it correctly sums up what the passage stands for!



2. It can be inferred from the passage that Albert Einstein would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements concerning the “positivist” philosophy of science, pioneered by the Vienna Circle in 1922?

(A) Though theoretically valuable, it erroneously embraced an empiricist attitude toward the pursuit of scientific truth.
(B) Its rejection of metaphysics resulted in a quest for scientific unity that was too optimistic.
(C) Its emphasis on empirical knowledge was laudable, even if the goal of presenting an unified vision of the world was ultimately unrealistic.
(D) Its quest for political, philosophical and scientific unity was detrimental to its pursuit of scientific truth.
(E) Though initially promising, its quest for scientific unity was a failure.

The passage suggests that Einstein abandoned the positivist view for a less optimistic view. This clearly means that the view of the Vienna Circle was highly optimistic. So, our correct option should definitely echo this point. Furthermore, the Vienna Circle gave special importance to experience (emperical knowledge). Keeping these points in mind, let's try and knock off the incorrect answer choices.
(A) No evidence in the passage tells us that the positivist philosophy was theoretically valuable. This option can be chucked out based on this. Also, saying that Einstein thought that the empirical approach by the Vienna circle is erroneous is taking it too far. Incorrect choice for sure.
(B) This is a good option that presents the information we had pre-thought. Let's keep this.
(C) Where is it mentioned that Einstein thought the emphasis on empirical knowledge was laudable? Definitely not stated in the passage. This option is incorrect. Again, saying that the goal was unrealistic is also too going too far.
(D) The passage shows no evidence of Vienna Circle ever laying emphasis or even mentioning politics, so this option is out.
(E) We can not say for sure whether the quest was a failure. Even though Einstein abandoned the community, it does not mean that he thinks it's a failure. Maybe it has errors, or maybe it did not have an errors but Einstein's perspective changed.


3. This passage suggests which one of the following about metaphysics?

(A) It was a reaction against the positivist philosophy of science.
(B) It failed to present a unified vision of the world.
(C) It did not necessarily seek to derive knowledge through experience alone.
(D) It was initially embraced by prominent scientists such as Einstein.
(E) It was regarded by members of the Vienna Circle as intellectually suspect.

It is stated in the passage that "most members of the Vienna Circle eschewed metaphysics, embracing a decidedly empiricist attitude toward the pursuit of scientific truth" -> eschewed means to avoid or disregard. So, they disregarded metaphysics and embraced empiricist attitude. This clearly means that Metaphysics did not seek to derive knowledge through empirical (experience) knowledge. For this reason, option (D) is our correct answer.

My answers -

1. C (The passage presented a origin of a philosophy movement of VC and then how a scientist initially shared its views, but later departed)
2. C (Though AE initially embraced the views of VC at a later staged he departed to pursue less optimistic view view of scientific truth as he realised VC views are unrealistic)
3. A (Based on the text in the passage 'Not surprisingly, most members of the Vienna Circle eschewed metaphysics, embracing a decidedly empiricist attitude toward the pursuit of scientific truth')

Found this a passage difficult to comprehend. Not very sure of my answers, but did the best I could. So here goes -

1. The main concern of the passage is to

(A) draw parallels between two philosophical movements and explain why a particular scientist embraced one of these movements at the expense of the other.
(B) relate a philosophical movement to a societal cause and contrast the movement’s intellectual objectives with those of a prominent scientist.
(C) discuss the origins of a philosophical movement and summarize its effect on the work of a prominent scientist.
(D) contrast two philosophical views and examine their relation to a third view.
(E) summarize the objectives of a philosophical movement and examine their relation to the views of a prominent scientist

Answer should be E, IMO

By POE,
(A) and (D) were straight out for me as no where in the passage two philosophical movements are discussed or compared.
For (C), the effects of the movement on a prominent scientist, were neither noted nor summarized
For (B), contrasting of the movement objectives was not done at any point with that of the scientist. In fact, the prominent scientist was at one point agreeing with the movement as well.
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2. It can be inferred from the passage that Albert Einstein would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements concerning the “positivist” philosophy of science, pioneered by the Vienna Circle in 1922?

(A) Though theoretically valuable, it erroneously embraced an empiricist attitude toward the pursuit of scientific truth.
(B) Its rejection of metaphysics resulted in a quest for scientific unity that was too optimistic.
(C) Its emphasis on empirical knowledge was laudable, even if the goal of presenting an unified vision of the world was ultimately unrealistic.
(D) Its quest for political, philosophical and scientific unity was detrimental to its pursuit of scientific truth.
(E) Though initially promising, its quest for scientific unity was a failure.

Answer should be D, IMO

By POE,
For (A), "erroneously embraced an empiricist attitude toward the pursuit of scientific truth." No where in the passage is this mentioned or can be inferred.
For (B), "too optimistic" is set in a negative tone, indicating that the whole idea is sort of a fail. But this can neither be derived nor be summarized from any part of the passage.
For (E), "quest for scientific unity was a failure". This can neither be derived nor be summarized from any part of the passage.
Was confused between (C) and (D), but went with D because C mentioned the goal of the movement to be unrealistic, which seemed to be too extreme, that too after somebody(Albert Einstein) supports it.
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3. This passage suggests which one of the following about metaphysics?

(A) It was a reaction against the positivist philosophy of science.
(B) It failed to present a unified vision of the world.
(C) It did not necessarily seek to derive knowledge through experience alone.
(D) It was initially embraced by prominent scientists such as Einstein.
(E) It was regarded by members of the Vienna Circle as intellectually suspect.

Answer should be E, IMO

This can be deduced from the following part of the passage -
Their aim was to present a unified vision of the world, where knowledge can only derive from experience through the application of logical analysis.
Not surprisingly, most members of the Vienna Circle eschewed metaphysics, embracing a decidedly empiricist attitude toward the pursuit of scientific truth.

*Note - This is a tough passage because it relies on you knowing the meaning of few words. If you are struggling, lets list these word with corresponding meaning. Then read the passage, and it would make more sense.
eschewed - avoid
metaphysics - branch of philosophy dealing with abstract concepts like relationship between mind and matter (it is easy to relate physics as we know it and Einstein, but that is the trap here)
empiricist - a person who supports the theory that all knowledge is based on experience derived from the senses.
positivist - taking the meaning from the passage "where knowledge can only derive from experience through the application of logical analysis"

Answers are in bold.

1. The main concern of the passage is to
(A) draw parallels between two philosophical movements and explain why a particular scientist embraced one of these movements at the expense of the other.
(B) relate a philosophical movement to a societal cause and contrast the movement’s intellectual objectives with those of a prominent scientist.
(C) discuss the origins of a philosophical movement and summarize its effect on the work of a prominent scientist.
(D) contrast two philosophical views and examine their relation to a third view.
(E) summarize the objectives of a philosophical movement and examine their relation to the views of a prominent scientist

Explanation of question 1
A - There is only one philosophical movement discussed here.
B - There is no societal cause discussed here.
C - Close choice. The passage does discuss origins of positivism, but its effect on Einstein's work is not discussed. What is mentioned is that Einstein had similar views to start with, but deviated from this viewpoint later on.
D - Now there are 3 philosophical views? We just said only 1 view was discussed. No way this is the answer.
E - Good start, 1 philosophical movement - by the Vienna Circle. Their relation with Albert Einstein was good to start with, but the latter departed from his positivist views later on. This looks really good.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. It can be inferred from the passage that Albert Einstein would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements concerning the “positivist” philosophy of science, pioneered by the Vienna Circle in 1922?
(A) Though theoretically valuable, it erroneously embraced an empiricist attitude toward the pursuit of scientific truth.
(B) Its rejection of metaphysics resulted in a quest for scientific unity that was too optimistic.
(C) Its emphasis on empirical knowledge was laudable, even if the goal of presenting an unified vision of the world was ultimately unrealistic.
(D) Its quest for political, philosophical and scientific unity was detrimental to its pursuit of scientific truth.
(E) Though initially promising, its quest for scientific unity was a failure.

Explanation of question 2
This is a tricky one. Lots of close choices available. To answer this question let is first see what is written in the passage - "Ironically, by the time the Vienna Circle “discovered” an intellectual bond with Einstein, he had departed from his positivist view to pursue less optimistic answers to the question of political, philosophical and scientific unity."
So Einstein is playing yin-yang here, he at first he himself had positivist ideas himself. But then later on he went on to pursue answers to scientific unity. This also means that he deviated from his original positivist ideas because he thought that it would not help him reach to answer to the question of scientific unity (and political, philosophical unity as well). Therefore E sits perfectly well with this viewpoint.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. This passage suggests which one of the following about metaphysics?
(A) It was a reaction against the positivist philosophy of science.
(B) It failed to present a unified vision of the world.
(C) It did not necessarily seek to derive knowledge through experience alone.
(D) It was initially embraced by prominent scientists such as Einstein.
(E) It was regarded by members of the Vienna Circle as intellectually suspect.

Explanation of question 3
Vienna circle deliberately avoided metaphysics. This is what we know from the passage.They also embraced an empiricist approach towards the pursuit of scientific truth. Now let us look at the choices now
A - it was not a reaction to the positivist philosophy.
B - We cannot say this for sure.
C - Vienna Circle pioneered positivist philosophy. So they agreed to this view. Vienna Circle also avoided metaphysics. And finally Vienna Circle was proponent of empiricist view point, which derives the knowledge through experiences. Therefore, it can be derived from the passage that metaphysics does not necessarily have empiricist viewpoints.
D - Opposite. Einstein shared Vienna Circle's positivist viewpoint. Not metaphysics.
E - Although this may well be true, because Vienna Circle avoided metaphysics, it cannot be derived from the passage of Vienna Circle actually regarded metaphysics as intellectually suspect.

1. The main concern of the passage is to

(A) draw parallels between two philosophical movements and explain why a particular scientist embraced one of these movements at the expense of the other.
(B) relate a philosophical movement to a societal cause and contrast the movement’s intellectual objectives with those of a prominent scientist.
(C) discuss the origins of a philosophical movement and summarize its effect on the work of a prominent scientist.
(D) contrast two philosophical views and examine their relation to a third view.
(E) summarize the objectives of a philosophical movement and examine their relation to the views of a prominent scientist


Correct Answer - E
Explanation - The main purpose of the passage is to disscuss the Vienna Circle, a philosophical scientific movement for discussion of derivation of knowlegde only through application of logical analysis. The prominent scientitist who shared the same view was Albert Einstein, but by the time the philosophers started to connect with him, he had moved on from their view view to pursue less optimistic answers to the question of political, philosophical and scientific unity..
The above purpose or concern is best summarized by option E.
Option A - incorrect - as no two movements have been discussed.
Option B - incorrect, no relation or comparison has been made of the philosophical movement to the views of the prominent scientitist.
Option C - incorrect, as the works of the philosophical movement did not have any influence on Albert Einstein, it was vice-versa.
Option D - incorrect, out of scope, w.r.t passage.



2. It can be inferred from the passage that Albert Einstein would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements concerning the “positivist” philosophy of science, pioneered by the Vienna Circle in 1922?

(A) Though theoretically valuable, it erroneously embraced an empiricist attitude toward the pursuit of scientific truth.
(B) Its rejection of metaphysics resulted in a quest for scientific unity that was too optimistic.
(C) Its emphasis on empirical knowledge was laudable, even if the goal of presenting an unified vision of the world was ultimately unrealistic.
(D) Its quest for political, philosophical and scientific unity was detrimental to its pursuit of scientific truth.
(E) Though initially promising, its quest for scientific unity was a failure.



Correct Answer - B
Explanation - It could be that Einstein later on moved on from the "positivist” view, because he thought that quest for scientific unity that was too optimistic, as mentioned in the end of the passage:"Ironically, by the time the Vienna Circle “discovered” an intellectual bond with Einstein, he had departed from his positivist view to pursue less optimistic answers to the question of political, philosophical and scientific unity."
Option A - incorrect, we cannot be sure that the embracing of the an empiricist attitude toward the pursuit of scientific truth was erroneous.
Option C - incorrect, cannot be inferred.
Option D - incorrect, out of scope of the passage.
Option E - incorrect, again we cannot be sure if the quest was a failure.




3. This passage suggests which one of the following about metaphysics?

(A) It was a reaction against the positivist philosophy of science.
(B) It failed to present a unified vision of the world.
(C) It did not necessarily seek to derive knowledge through experience alone.
(D) It was initially embraced by prominent scientists such as Einstein.
(E) It was regarded by members of the Vienna Circle as intellectually suspect.


Correct Answer - C
Explanation -
Option A - incorrect, partly correctly, as metaphysics in itself was not a reaction, but the positivist philosophy of science, caused the reaction against metaphysics.
Option B - incorrect, as metaphysics is not meant to present a unified view of the world, its a branch of philosophy.
Option D, E - incorrect, not explicitly mentioned in the passage.

03:56
1. The main concern of the passage is to

(A) draw parallels between two philosophical movements and explain why a particular scientist embraced one of these movements at the expense of the other.
(B) relate a philosophical movement to a societal cause and contrast the movement’s intellectual objectives with those of a prominent scientist.
(C) discuss the origins of a philosophical movement and summarize its effect on the work of a prominent scientist.
(D) contrast two philosophical views and examine their relation to a third view.
(E) summarize the objectives of a philosophical movement and examine their relation to the views of a prominent scientist ( Correct) Objective are stated in starting and the views of Albert Einstein are discussed


01:27

2. It can be inferred from the passage that Albert Einstein would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements concerning the “positivist” philosophy of science, pioneered by the Vienna Circle in 1922?

(A) Though theoretically valuable, it erroneously embraced an empiricist attitude toward the pursuit of scientific truth.
(B) Its rejection of metaphysics resulted in a quest for scientific unity that was too optimistic.
(C) Its emphasis on empirical knowledge was laudable, even if the goal of presenting an unified vision of the world was ultimately unrealistic.
(D) Its quest for political, philosophical and scientific unity was detrimental to its pursuit of scientific truth.
(E) Though initially promising, its quest for scientific unity was a failure. ( Correct)


01:38
3. This passage suggests which one of the following about metaphysics?

(A) It was a reaction against the positivist philosophy of science.
(B) It failed to present a unified vision of the world.(Correct)
(C) It did not necessarily seek to derive knowledge through experience alone.
(D) It was initially embraced by prominent scientists such as Einstein.
(E) It was regarded by members of the Vienna Circle as intellectually suspect.

SajjadAhmad please provide the official explanation for all the questions.

1. The main concern of the passage is to

(A) draw parallels between two philosophical movements and explain why a particular scientist embraced one of these movements at the expense of the other. Incorrect. No parallel drawn b/w 2 movements + why Einstein did so is not told
(B) relate a philosophical movement to a societal cause and contrast the movement’s intellectual objectives with those of a prominent scientist. Incorrect
(C) discuss the origins of a philosophical movement and summarize its effect on the work of a prominent scientist. Incorrect. We are told about the origins but the passage only tells us that Einstein shared attitude with proponents of positivist movt. but if the movement had any effect on his works is not known
(D) contrast two philosophical views and examine their relation to a third view. Incorrect. No 3rd view
(E) summarize the objectives of a philosophical movement and examine their relation to the views of a prominent scientist Correct. The aim of the positivist movement is stated + We are told "Their attitude was shared by other prominent scientists such as Albert Einstein" and are told that later on "by the time the Vienna Circle “discovered” an intellectual bond with Einstein, he had departed from his positivist view to pursue less optimistic answers to the question of political, philosophical and scientific unity." So his views had changed

2. It can be inferred from the passage that Albert Einstein would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements concerning the “positivist” philosophy of science, pioneered by the Vienna Circle in 1922?

(A) Though theoretically valuable, it erroneously embraced an empiricist attitude toward the pursuit of scientific truth.Incorrect
(B) Its rejection of metaphysics resulted in a quest for scientific unity that was too optimistic. Can be inferred from the following excerpt:
"by the time the Vienna Circle “discovered” an intellectual bond with Einstein, he had departed from his positivist view to pursue less optimistic answers to the question of political, philosophical and scientific unity.
(C) Its emphasis on empirical knowledge was laudable, even if the goal of presenting an unified vision of the world was ultimately unrealistic. Incorrect
(D) Its quest for political, philosophical and scientific unity was detrimental to its pursuit of scientific truth. Incorrect. This quest was of Einstein not positivists
(E) Though initially promising, its quest for scientific unity was a failure. Incorrect. Can't infer

3. This passage suggests which one of the following about metaphysics?

This can be inferred from the following excerpt:



Empirical means which can be verified through experiments, So metaphysics must not be having this property

(A) It was a reaction against the positivist philosophy of science. Incorrect. Metaphysics is a field of science not something which developed as a reaction to something
(B) It failed to present a unified vision of the world. Incorrect. unified means common whole
(C) It did not necessarily seek to derive knowledge through experience alone. Incorrect. Positivists wanted knowledge from expreince derived through application of logical analysis. Metaphysics therefore, should be something that does not involve experience, while this option mentions knowledge not from experience alone, i.e., experience + something else
(D) It was initially embraced by prominent scientists such as Einstein. Incorrect. Initially Einstein shared attitude of positivists
(E) It was regarded by members of the Vienna Circle as intellectually suspect Correct. They must be thinking so as it can't be it is opposite of empirical

Q1.
A. There is only one philosophical movement which is "positivist" philosophy.
B. There is no societal cause. The "positivist"s were putting forth their vision of the world, which is emperical and experience based.
C. Origins of the movement are not discussed. The passage directly started from the gathering of the philosophers. No prior info provided.
D. Same as A.
E. Correct The views and objectives of the "positivist"s are presented and then compared with those of Einstein.

Q2.
A. We can't infer this from the passage. The theorical value of the "positivist" view is not discussed at all.
B. We can't infer this from the passage. Eintein's opinion is that answer to the quest of unified vision is optimistic and not the quest itself. Also, the coorelation between rejection of metaphysics and their vision is not presented. This option is misleading.
C. We can't infer anywhere from the passage that " Its emphasis on empirical knowledge was laudable"
D. Use of "detrimental" is extreme. Einstein never said that.
E. Correct Einstein initially believed that positivist view is correct, but later the answers to the quest are too optimistic (failure). This can be inferred from last sentence of the passage. "Ironically, by the time the Vienna Circle “discovered” an intellectual bond with Einstein, he had departed from his positivist view to pursue less optimistic answers to the question of political, philosophical and scientific unity."

Q3.
A. It was not the reaction against the Vienna Circle's philosphy. It was rather positivists view/ opinion.
B. The philosophy presented a Unified vision of the world. Just that it was not acceptable by Einstein at a later date.
C. Irrelavant. Out of Context.
D. It is true for positivist philosophy, not just for metaphysics.
E. Correct This can be inferred from "most members of the Vienna Circle eschewed metaphysics". Eschewed means deliberately avoiding its use. They considered metaphysical lacks proof and hence embraced emperical methods towards their vision.

1. The main concern of the passage is to

(A) draw parallels between two philosophical movements and explain why a particular scientist embraced one of these movements at the expense of the other. The passage is not drawing parallels between 2 philosophical movements. It just speaks about the positivist philosophy. So, this is incorrect.
(B) relate a philosophical movement to a societal cause and contrast the movement’s intellectual objectives with those of a prominent scientist. The philosophy has not been contrasted in any way. It just mentions that Einstein initially subscribed to that philosophy and later departed from it. However, the contrast is not made anywhere.
(C) discuss the origins of a philosophical movement and summarize its effect on the work of a prominent scientist. The effect on the work of a prominent scientist is nowhere to be seen in the passage. Hence, incorrect.
(D) contrast two philosophical views and examine their relation to a third view. There has been no mention of a contrast between 2 philosophical views. Hence, reject.
(E) summarize the objectives of a philosophical movement and examine their relation to the views of a prominent scientist. Correct. The passage summarizes the objectives of a philosophical movement in the line ("Their aim was to present a unified vision of the world, where knowledge can only derive from experience through the application of logical analysis.") and examines its relation with the views of Einstein (initially it states that Einstein subscribed to the positivist philosophy but later on he went for a less optimistic approach)


2. It can be inferred from the passage that Albert Einstein would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements concerning the “positivist” philosophy of science, pioneered by the Vienna Circle in 1922?

(A) Though theoretically valuable, it erroneously embraced an empiricist attitude toward the pursuit of scientific truth. This option is not inferred from passage in any way. In fact, Einstein earlier agreed with the positivist philosophy.
(B) Its rejection of metaphysics resulted in a quest for scientific unity that was too optimistic. It is stated that Einstein went for a less optimistic approach later. This means that we need to go for an option which states that the opinion of the Vienna Circle is more optimistic than necessary. Hence this option is correct.
(C) Its emphasis on empirical knowledge was laudable, even if the goal of presenting an unified vision of the world was ultimately unrealistic. The passage doe not mention that presenting a unified vision of the world is unrealistic. Einstein, later, just subscribed to a less optimistic philosophy.
(D) Its quest for political, philosophical and scientific unity was detrimental to its pursuit of scientific truth. The passage dosen't mention that the quest was detrimental to pursuit of scientific truth. Detrimental as a word is too extreme to be used.
(E) Though initially promising, its quest for scientific unity was a failure. The passage doe not mention that the quest for scientific unity was a failure.


3. This passage suggests which one of the following about metaphysics?

(A) It was a reaction against the positivist philosophy of science. Nowhere is it mentioned that metaphysics was a reaction against positivist philosophy. Hence, incorrect.
(B) It failed to present a unified vision of the world. Metaphysics is not related with presenting a unified vision of the world. This option can't be inferred.
(C) It did not necessarily seek to derive knowledge through experience alone.It is mentioned that, "Not surprisingly, most members of the Vienna Circle eschewed metaphysics, embracing a decidedly empiricist attitude toward the pursuit of scientific truth." This means that metaphysics did not have only an empiricist approach. Empiricism means that knowledge is derived through experience. Hence this is correct.
(D) It was initially embraced by prominent scientists such as Einstein. The passage does not mention that metaphysics was initially embraced by prominent scientists.
(E) It was regarded by members of the Vienna Circle as intellectually suspect. This option too, can't be inferred from the information given in the passage. Hence, incorrect.

OAs of this RC are as follow:

1. E
2. C
3. C

Well done ksht you are winner here for this passage, all other who got 2/3 result, this is not a bad result for this RC. Good Luck for upcoming questions. I will post leaders' board update shortly.

Good luck.

Hi SajjadAhmad, please post the explanation for question 2. Thanks.

Hope it helps

what is the difficulty level of 1st and 3rd question ?

Question #1: 600
Question #3: 700

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