Frailty of understanding is in itself no proper target for scorn and

Question

Aristotle RC 99 - Passage 94     
   Frailty of understanding is in itself no proper target for scorn and mockery. But the unintelligent forfeit their claim to compassion when they begin to indulge in self-complacent airs, and to call themselves sane critics, meaning that they are mechanics. And when, relying upon their numbers, they pass from self-complacency to insolence, and reprove their betters for using the brains which God has not denied them, they dry up the fount of pity.

If a hale man walks along the street upon two sound legs, he is not liable to be chased by crowds of cripples vociferating Go home and fetch your crutch. If a reasoning man edits a classic rationally, he is. What a critic is, and what advantage he has over those who are not critics, can easily be shown by one example. Cicero‘s oration pro rege Deiotaro was edited between 1830 and 1840 by Klotz, Soldan, and Benecke. The best MS then known was the Erfurtensis, and all three editors pounced on this authority and clung to it, believing themselves safe. In 1841, Madvig, maintaining reason against superstition in Cicero‘s text as I now maintain it in Juvenal‘s, impugned 17 readings adopted from the Erfurtensis by these editors, and upheld the readings of inferior MSS. We now possess MSS still better than the Erfurtensis, and in 12 of the 17 places they contradict it; they confirm the inferior MSS and the superior critic.

But there are editors destitute of this discriminating faculty, so destitute that they cannot even conceive it to exist; and these are entangled in a task for which nature has neglected to equip them. What are they now to do? Set to and try to learn their trade? That is forbidden by sloth. Stand back and leave room for their superiors? That is forbidden by vanity. They must have a rule, a machine to do their thinking for them. If the rule is true, so much the better; if false, that cannot be helped: but one thing is necessary, a rule. A hundred years ago it was their rule to count the MSS and trust the majority. But this pillow was snatched from under them by the great critics of the 19 th century, and the truth that MSS must be weighed, not counted, is now too widely known to be ignored.

The sluggard has lost his pillow, but he has kept his nature, and must needs find something else to loll on; so he fabricates, to suit the change of season, his precious precept of following one MS wherever possible. Engendered by infirmity and designed for comfort, no wonder if it misses the truth at which it was never aimed. Its aim was purely humanitarian: to rescue incompetent editors alike from the toil of editing and from the shame of acknowledging that they cannot edit.   1 
 B 
 1. The author‘s discussion takes the reader to the topic of the Erfurtensis MS in paragraph two. The example of this manuscript is relevant to the claim that:

A. the Erfurtensis MS is not very reliable.
B. no single MS can be assumed to be always right.
C. Madvig was a lazy editor.
D. MSS must be weighed, not counted.
E. every MS is either right or wrong

2 
 B 
 2. According to the various arguments put forth by the author of the passage, which of the following are true about the editing of classics?

I. It has not been undertaken in the case of Cicero.
II. It is sometimes undertaken by people who are unable to do it correctly.
III. There were important advances in the field during the 19th century.

A. I and II only
B. II and III only
C. I and III only
D. I, II and III
E. None of the above

3 
 C 
 3. Suppose that the author is present at a panel discussion on the topic of this passage where all of the following statements are made by other panellists. According to the arguments he has put forth in the text, the author is LEAST likely to agree with which of the following statements?

A. It should not be assumed that the majority of the MSS of a classical text are correct.
B. Madvig was a better editor than Klotz, Soldan, or Benecke.
C. It is a mistake to think that one MS of a particular text is better than another.
D. There is no simple rule for editing that eliminates the need for critical discrimination.
E. The Erfurtensis was one of the best known MS in the period 1830-1840

4 
 A 
 4. In spite of what may or may not appear in the first paragraphs of the passage, the bulk of the passage is devoted to showing:

A. that incompetent editors have developed methods for avoiding the difficulties of responsible editing.
B. that the Erfurtensis MS is no longer considered the best MS of Cicero‘s pro rege Deiotaro.
C. that it was discovered in the nineteenth century that MSS must be weighed, not merely counted.
D. that Cicero was editing more often during the 1830s than during any other decade.
E. that responsible editing has become an extinct concept

RC Butler 2021  -  Practice Two RC Questions Everyday.   
Passage # 114 Date: 22-Mar-2021
 This question is a part of RC Butler 2021 .  Click here for Details

Gladiator59 · Accepted Answer

6 mins 40 secs and got 3 out of 4. This is a very difficult RC as most of the discussion is unknown to the general reader. I still do not have a clue what an MS or an MSS is. :-|

MP - Editing is difficult and low-quality editors always find a way to escape hard work. The 19th century saw some great editors and nowadays low-quality editors are finding it hard to avoid bad editing.

1. The author‘s discussion takes the reader to the topic of the Erfurtensis MS in
paragraph two. The example of this manuscript is relevant to the claim that:
A. the Erfurtensis MS is not very reliable.  Not the point of bringing it up even if it somewhat related 
B. no single MS can be assumed to be always right.  Bingo - the example is used to show that no single MS ( whatever that is !) is absolutely right. 
C. Madvig was a lazy editor.  BS option- maybe he was a bad editor but nothing is mentioned about lazy. in fact, he did more than his contemporaries... 
D. MSS must be weighed, not counted.  Mentioned in the passage but not in this context 
E. every MS is either right or wrong  Not mentioned

2. According to the various arguments put forth by the author of the passage,
which of the following are true about the editing of classics?
I. It has not been undertaken in the case of Cicero.  YES it has! Two examples are shared in paragraph 2 w.r.t the same. 
II. It is sometimes undertaken by people who are unable to do it correctly.  Correct - this is the main point of the passage 
III. There were important advances in the field during the 19th century.  Correct - Author mentions 19th century giants / greats 
A. I and II only
B. II and III only  CORRECT CHOICE 
C. I and III only
D. I, II and III
E. None of the above

BE CAREFUL Q3 is an "except" question 
3. Suppose that the author is present at a panel discussion on the topic of this
passage where all of the following statements are made by other panellists.
According to the arguments he has put forth in the text, the author is LEAST
likely to agree with which of the following statements?
A. It should not be assumed that the majority of the MSS of a classical
text are correct.  Yup - this is what the author mentions in paragraph 2 
B. Madvig was a better editor than Klotz, Soldan, or Benecke.  TRAP - even if it seems a bit extreme the author does mention it in the passage while introducing the contemporaries  
C. It is a mistake to think that one MS of a particular text is better than
another.  The author clearly favours MSS over MS in the paragraph 
D. There is no simple rule for editing that eliminates the need for critical
discrimination.  Yep - the author says editing is a tough task and most editors do not know how to do it. 
E. The Erfurtensis was one of the best known MS in the period 1830-1840  Yes - clearly mentioned in para 2

Need to understand the MP to answer this one 
4. In spite of what may or may not appear in the first paragraphs of the
passage, the bulk of the passage is devoted to showing:
A. that incompetent editors have developed methods for avoiding the
difficulties of responsible editing.  BINGO - clearly mentioned by the author in the ending lines and the throughout the passage - this is the MP 
B. that the Erfurtensis MS is no longer considered the best MS of Cicero‘s
pro rege Deiotaro.  Too detailed to be the MP 
C. that it was discovered in the nineteenth century that MSS must be
weighed, not merely counted.  TRUE but detailed 
D. that Cicero was editing more often during the 1830s than during any
other decade.  BS Option 
E. that responsible editing has become an extinct concept  Not what author thinks - AUthor does say most are lazy editors implying some ( like the 19th-century ones) are exceptions

Verdict - Tough passage! I would say not GMAT like :-\

Best,
Gladi

dave13 · Answer

hi Gladiator59 this is toughest passage i have ever read

there were so many unknown words

i got questons, 1, 2, 3 correctly, the 4th one chose B, but later got it why B was wrong. As for MS/ MSS it is an abbreviation of "manuscript". MP do you mean main purpose ?

have a great weekend

dave13 · Answer

Gladiator59 MS is an abbreviation of manuscript in singular form ( The best MS then known was ) MSS is an abbreviation of manuscripts in plural form

(upheld the readings of inferior MSS ) Main point ? Well, Critics of 19 century put into into question/challenge the quality of edited manuscripts by 18th centutry editors.

Jeemate · Answer

Read passage in 5:30 minutes (little above my average reading time, which is 4:30), and got all 4 right. It took me approx. 4 minutes to complete the 4 questions.
 In Q.1,  The question asks why was the example of the MS used. Since the passage is not about the MS mentioned, it's just a part of it, so Option B seems more right. I was actually confused between B & D as they depict an overall point more than A.
 In Q.2,  If you have read the passage carefully, you can be sure that (ii) & (iii) are right. For the (i), you can go back to the passage and confirm.
 In Q.3,  I use a trick in LEAST questions, Instead of crossing the answers I tick them right because they are true (this avoids confusion). Madvig would have been preferred over the others as he was the one who took that edited piece for evaluation and corrected it. Option C is right as not always the edited MS is right, mentioned in the passage as main point. I was confused more between C & D as I didn't know what D meant and it seemed right.
 In Q.4,  Confused between A & C. Again the answer should depict the overall message after the 1st para & between these two A seemed more right.

I don't always have good reasoning for why I selected an option. Sometimes intuition plays well for me. For the options I selected maybe I would have weighted them more than the ones I was confused with.

Solenja · Answer

i agree with gladiator 59 it a very difficult passage and im still in puzzle with ms and mss means, i believe there are some mistake in the passage or may be im wrong.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Frailty of understanding is in itself no proper target for scorn and

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Frailty of understanding is in itself no proper target for scorn and

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