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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Analyzing The Form Of Nonfiction And Philosophy
Marxist philosophy is heavily influenced by the dialectic developed by which thinker?
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
John Stuart Mill
Jeremy Bentham
Immanuel Kant
David Hume
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
In developing his own theories on capitalism and society, Karl Marx was heavily influence by the phenomenology of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. In particular, Marx used Hegel's dialectic, which stressed that any idea unfolds along a three part process. First, a thesis is presented, which leads to a reaction in the form an antithesis, which is combined with the thesis in a resolution called the synthesis.
Example Question #1 : Analyzing The Form Of Classical Nonfiction And Philosophy
St. Augustine of Hippo's Confessions (c. 397 CE) is notable as an early example of the literary form known as __________.
autobiography
travelogue
historical fiction
epic poem
catechism
autobiography
Augustine's Confessions follows the life of the author from his birth through thirteen separate books. Primarily the story of Augustine's early spiritual and educational life and his eventual conversion to Christianity, the book nonetheless covers the important details of Augustine's life. This makes the Confessions one of the earliest examples of an autobiography.
Example Question #2 : Analyzing The Form Of Classical Nonfiction And Philosophy
Which of the following best describes the literary style of Plato?
Dialogue
Discourse
Tome
Treatise
Letter
Dialogue
Although there are several letters attributed to Plato, the bulk of his works are written in the form of dialogues. In his philosophical works, he often writes of how Socrates disputes and discusses some matter with various figures of Athenian civic life. The dialogue style itself is masterful, often using literary devices to make subtle philosophical points. In this, he differs greatly from his student, Aristotle, whose works are quite dry (though also much more direct and clear than are Plato's works). Many later philosophers would write in the form of dialogues, though it is arguable that few ever matched the excellence of Plato's style.
Example Question #2 : Analyzing The Form Of Classical Nonfiction And Philosophy
Which of the following best describes the genre of the Confessions of St. Augustine?
Dialogue
Discussion
Divulgence
Autobiography
Interrogation
Autobiography
In the Confessions, Augustine of Hippo pens a story of his conversion to Christianity. In this, he does "confess" his guilt and arrival at conversion from this guilty state of life. The whole work is written like a monologue to God—a long prayer. This is not offered as an option among those provided for this question. Instead, the closest genre here noted is that of autobiography. In a general way of speaking, Augustine does pen an autobiography by writing the Confessions. It does tell his life story up to a certain point in history, thus giving us a form of monologue-to-God-biography.
Example Question #1 : Analyzing The Form Of Medieval And Renaissance Nonfiction And Philosophy
Which of the following is the most standard form of philosophical style during the mid to late thirteenth century?
Homiletic philosophy
Dialogue
Cursus philosophicus
Small treatises
Disputed questions
Disputed questions
During the second half of the 13th century, there were several standard philosophical styles. One was the style of literal commentary, which was used for interpreting the texts of Aristotle and other accepted authorities. In addition, within theological circles, there was the development of the so-called "summae"—lengthier summaries of doctrine, sometimes quite systematic in nature.
These large texts, however, were made up of questions that were written in a style quite peculiar to the Middle Ages, namely that of "disputed questions." These texts would set forth a question, take options "pro" and "con" and then make a conclusion based upon both sides of the question. Sometimes, in shorter works like this, the author would only consider the options that were contrary to his own, helping the reader to understand some possible objections to the text.
This style of disputation was used in many of the treatises that began to be written late in the 13th century and into the 14th. It remained a style that was used especially in Catholic thought for some time. It was, however, most vigorously used as a writing style during this period of the Middle Ages.
(It should be added that there were also short treatises written during this time. They are not, however, the most unique style of writing during the time period.)
Example Question #1 : Analyzing The Form Of Nonfiction And Philosophy
Who is the philosopher most associated with a three-part dialectic as an argumentative form?
Soren Kierkegaard
Ludwig Feuerbach
Friedrich Nietzsche
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Arthur Schopenhauer
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
The "Hegelian dialectic" is often rendered as Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis, meaning any statement can be opposed by an opposite idea, and the clash of the two ideas will create a better philosophical statement. Hegel preferred the terms "abstract," "negative," and "concrete," which better explained the ideas' relationship. Hegel's dialectic was widely influential; it was used by thinkers like Karl Marx and argued against by philosophers such as Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche.