Existentialism is a term applied to the work of certain late 19th- and

Question

Existentialism is a term applied to the work of certain late 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual. In existentialism, the individual's starting point is characterized by what has been called "the existential attitude", or a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world. Many existentialists have also regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophies, in both style and content, as too abstract and remote from concrete human experience.

A central proposition of existentialism is that existence precedes essence, which means that the most important consideration for individuals is the fact that they are an individual—an independently acting and responsible, conscious being ("existence")—rather than what labels, roles, stereotypes, definitions, or other preconceived categories the individual fits ("essence"). The actual life of the individual constitutes what could be called their "true essence" instead of an arbitrarily attributed essence others use to define them. Thus, human beings, through their own consciousness, create their own values and determine a meaning to their life.   1 
 Since no hint is given in the question stem about where to look, you must assess each answer choice individually. For (A), “19th and 20th century philosophers” are discussed in the first sentence. You learn that “certain” 19th and 20th century philosophers had profound doctrinal differences but you have no idea if “most did”. Be careful of answer choices like this one that go a little too far on inference questions. If (A) said “some” instead of “most” it would be correct. For (B) “style and content” are discussed at the end of the first paragraph but there is no way to make this type of comparison inference from that information. The inference in (C) is harder to find, but it must be true based on this sentence: “ Many existentialists have also regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophies, in both style and content, as too abstract and remote from concrete human experience .” If existentialists believe that traditional philosophies are “too remote from concrete human experience” then they must “favor a deeper connection to human experience than traditional philosophies.” (D) is a play on words from several sections in the passage but is definitely not inferable, and for (E) there is no comparison made between whether “true essence” is more or less important than the individual. Answer is (C). 
1. It can be inferred from the passage that:

(A) Most late 19th and 20th century philosophers had profound doctrinal differences

(B) Style is more important than value in existential philosophy.

(C) Existentialism favors a deeper connection to human experience than traditional philosophies.

(D) Existential philosophers were frequently confused by traditional philosophies.

(E) A core notion of existentialism is that “true essence” supersedes the individual.

2 
 In this type of illustrate the principle question, you must first understand the defining characteristics of the “ existential attitude ” and then pick the situation that best matches it. In the passage, the “ existential attitude ” is defined as: “ a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world ”. Therefore you need a situation that meets all aspects of this definition. In (A), (C), and (E) you have a situation that contains the “sense of disorientation and confusion” but lacks the “apparently meaningless or absurd world”, so all three are incorrect. In (D), you lack the “sense of disorientation and confusion” so it is also incorrect. Only (B) gets all aspects of the definition: the woman is “confused 
2. Which of the following situations best illustrates the “existential attitude”?

(A) A confused man wanders through an orderly and structured parking lot trying to find his car

(B) A confused woman contemplates charges for something that she never did and that never happened.

(C) A disoriented dog gets lost in a large, well-manicured park, but is found by his owners later.

(D) A purposeful student sits in an outdoor art gallery with no boundaries or logic and contemplates life.

(E) A disoriented sailor finishes 2nd in an outcome that was expected by some and doubted by others.

3 
 To answer this question, go back to where “ true essence ” is used in the end of the 2nd paragraph: “The actual life of the individual constitutes what could be called their "true essence" instead of an arbitrarily attributed essence others use to define them.” As you can see, answer choice (D) rephrases this sentence almost exactly and is thus the correct answer. (A) refers back to “essence” not “true essence” so it is incorrect. For (B), no comparison is made between the importance of those two things so it is also incorrect. (C) is probably the trickiest of the incorrect answer choices: After the sentence containing “true essence” you see that human beings, THROUGH their consciousness, create certain things…” It does not say they use their “true essence” to create their consciousness. For (E), the passage does not contrast those two things so it is also incorrect. Answer is (D). 
3. The author uses the term “true essence” in order to:

(A) identify the preconceived categories in which the individual fits

(B) emphasize the importance of individualism over consciousness

(C) show how human beings create their own consciousness

(D) define the true life of an individual in contrast to that created by others

(E) contrast the individual with the true self

VeritasPrepBrian · Answer

Happy to help! For #2, the description of the existential attitude is:

disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world

I'd really focus on that "meaningless and absurd" - in choice (B), being charged with crimes you didn't do and that never happened is a good example of that. The charges are meaningless and the situation is absurd - it's just entirely out of place and doesn't make sense.

The only other answer that seems close to "meaningless and absurd" is (D), but to me that art galleries are often free from boundaries and logical order, so you could argue that it's not "meaningless and absurd" but more intentionally devoid of boundaries and logic. That fits with the art gallery theme. And the purposeful student isn't necessarily confused by that - it sort of makes sense that in such a place you'd contemplate the meaning of life.

With the other answers, there's at least some sense of meaning and order (a well-manicured park, an orderly parking lot, etc.) so they don't fit the theme.

My process on this one would be:

1) Go back and find that term "existential attitude" and note its definition.

2) Do a first, kind of quick pass at process of elimination to get rid of the ones (I'd say A/C/E) that clearly don't fit.

3) Go back and split hairs between the remaining answers (so above I kind of did it in reverse since B vs. D was kind of the interesting distinction in my mind)

honneeey · Answer

9 minutes! All correct! Abstract passage but nice one!

1. It can be inferred from the passage that:

(A) Most late 19th and 20th century philosophers had profound doctrinal differences- Cant be inferred. Refer"Existentialism is a term applied to the work of certain late 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal difference..". MOST is uncalled for !

(B) Style is more important than value in existential philosophy.-Opposite, refer " Many existentialists have also regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophies, in both style and content, as too abstract and remote from concrete human experience."

(C) Existentialism favors a deeper connection to human experience than traditional philosophies. True,  Refer "Existentialism is a term applied to the work of certain late 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual..."

(D) Existential philosophers were frequently confused by traditional philosophies.- Nopes, people were rather clear about this aspect. Refer "century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual..."

(E) A core notion of existentialism is that “true essence” supersedes the individual.- Nopes, True essence is indeed individualistic..

2. Which of the following situations best illustrates the “existential attitude”?

(A) A confused man wanders through an orderly and structured parking lot trying to find his car- First half correct, second half incorrect.

(B) A confused woman contemplates charges for something that she never did and that never happened.- True,  refer ""the existential attitude", or a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world.."

(C) A disoriented dog gets lost in a large, well-manicured park, but is found by his owners later.- Well-manicured is opposite.

(D) A purposeful student sits in an outdoor art gallery with no boundaries or logic and contemplates life.-Purposeful is opposite.

(E) A disoriented sailor finishes 2nd in an outcome that was expected by some and doubted by others.-expected by some is opposite

3. The author uses the term “true essence” in order to:

(A) identify the preconceived categories in which the individual fits-Wrong

(B) emphasize the importance of individualism over consciousness-Terrible!

(C) show how human beings create their own consciousness-Wrong!

(D) define the true life of an individual in contrast to that created by others-  True,  refer "The  actual life  of the individual constitutes what could be called their "true essence" instead of an arbitrarily attributed essence others use to define them.."

(E) contrast the individual with the true self- Nopes.

Cinematiccuisine · Answer

honneeey : for Q1, option D, you gave below explanation. i think you are not pointing to correct para/sentence.

1. It can be inferred from the passage that:

(A) Most late 19th and 20th century philosophers had profound doctrinal differences
(B) Style is more important than value in existential philosophy.
(C) Existentialism favors a deeper connection to human experience than traditional philosophies.
  (D) Existential philosophers were frequently confused by traditional philosophies.  
(E) A core notion of existentialism is that “true essence” supersedes the individual.

the option D refers to last sentence of the para 1:
 Many existentialists have also regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophies, in both style and content,   as too abstract   and remote from concrete human experience.

Now, as per option D, the Existential philosophers were   frequently   confused by traditional philosophies. however, as per above sentence, the author agrees that existentialistsregarded traditional philosophies as too abstract/confusing but author doesn't necessarily says 'frequently'. hence i feel option D is not correct.

Option C shows straight forward alignment. Let me know - what do you think?
 VeritasPrepBrian ,  hazelnut ,  workout : please confirm if my analysis is correct or not. Thank you.

---
Give kudos even if you disagree.

VeritasPrepBrian · Answer

Cinematiccuisine  I definitely like the idea of focusing on those extra "quantifier"-type modifiers in Inference questions...much like "most" philosophers in choice (A), a word like "frequently" adds specificity that's harder to prove. So your overall technique is great there..."extra" words in conclusions/inferences deserve that level of scrutiny!

Here I think my rationale for eliminating (D) is even broader - the sentence that references confusion is:

the individual's starting point  is characterized by what has been called "the existential attitude", or a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world.

Note that confusion is never assigned to the philosophers themselves! Confusion is referenced sort of "within" existential philosophy (existentialists believe this about people...) and not in reference to the philosophers themselves. Note, also, what "the individual" is confused by...not traditional philosophy, but "an apparently meaningless or absurd world."

So that's how I'd eliminate (D) on this particular question, but like I said in a larger context if you're attacking those extra adjectives/modifiers in Inference answers (and in conclusions of Strengthen/Weaken CR problems) you're absolutely setting yourself up for success.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Existentialism is a term applied to the work of certain late 19th- and

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