Reading Passage Question
It is easy to accept Freud as an applied scientist, and, indeed, he is widely regarded as the twentieth century’s master clinician. However, in viewing Marx as an applied social scientist the stance needed is that of a Machiavellian operationalism. The objective is neither to bury nor to praise him. The assumption is simply that he is better understood for being understood as an applied sociologist. This is in part the clear implication of Marx’s Theses on Feurbach, which culminate in the resounding 11th thesis: “The philosophers have only interpreted the world in different ways; the point, however, is to change it.” This would seem to be the tacit creed of applied scientists everywhere.
Marx was no Faustian, concerned solely with understanding society, but a Promethean who sought to understand it well enough to influence and to change it. He was centrally concerned with the social problems of a lay group, the proletariat, and there can be little doubt that his work is motivated by an effort to reduce their suffering, as he saw it. His diagnosis was that their increasing misery and alienation engendered endemic class struggle; his prognosis claimed that this would culminate in revolution; his therapeutic prescription was class consciousness and active struggle.
Here, as in assessing Durkheim or Freud, the issue is not whether this analysis is empirically correct or scientifically adequate. Furthermore, whether or not this formulation seems to eviscerate Marx’s revolutionary core, as critics on the left may charge, or whether the formulation provides Marx with a new veneer of academic respectability, as critics on the right may allege, is entirely irrelevant from the present standpoint. Insofar as Marx’s or any other social scientist’s work conforms to a generalized model of applied social science, insofar as it is professionally oriented to the values and social problems of laymen in his society, he may be treated as an applied social scientist.
Despite Durkeim’s intellectualistic proclivities and rationalistic pathos, he was too much the product of European turbulence to turn his back on the travail of his culture. “Why strive for knowledge of reality, if this knowledge cannot aid us in life,” he asked. “Social science,” he said, “can provide us with rules of action for the future.” Durkheim, like Marx, conceived of science as an agency of social action, and like him was professionally oriented to the values and problems of laymen in his society. Unless one sees that Durkheim was in some part an applied social scientist, it is impossible to understand why he concludes his monumental study of Suicide with a chapter on “Practical Consequences,” and why, in the Division of Labor, he proposes a specific remedy.
“It is easy to accept Freud as an applied scientist”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.
This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 4 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.
Solution and Explanation
Question 1
Which of the following best describes the author’s conception of an applied social scientist?
(A) A professional who listens to people’s problems
(B) A professional who seeks social action and change
(C) A student of society
(D) A proponent of class struggle
(E) A philosopher who interprets the world in a unique way
Answer: B
Explanation: The passage starts out by saying. It is simple to accept Freud as an applied scientist, and he is in fact largely acknowledged as the greatest therapist of the 20th century. According to the author, this appears to be the unspoken credo of all applied scientists. Insofar as Marx's or any other social scientist's work conforms to a generalised model of applied social science. It is mentioned in the paragraph. He may be regarded as an applied social scientist. Insofar as he is professionally dedicated to the values and social issues of lay people in his community.
Question 2
According to the author, which of the following did Marx and Durkheim have in common?
(A) A belief in the importance of class struggle
(B) A desire to create a system of social organization
(C) An interest in penology
(D) Regard for the practical applications of science
(E) A sense of the political organization of society
Answer: D
Explanation: Both Marx and Durkeem were respected for the uses of science in daily life. As previously mentioned, Durkheim questioned the use of pursuing knowledge of reality if it does not help us in our daily lives. Durkheim claimed that social science can provide us guidelines for future behaviour. Like Marx, Durkheim saw science as a force for social change. And, like him, had a professional orientation toward the ideals and issues of laymen in his society.
Question 3
It may be inferred from the passage that the applied social scientist might be interested in all of the following subjects except
(A) the theory of mechanics
(B) how to make workers more efficient
(C) rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents
(D) reduction of social tensions
(E) industrial safety
Answer: A
Explanation: We may deduce Option B from the paragraph. As said there can be little question that he was principally concerned with the social concerns of a lay group, the proletariat. One might also deduce option C. He was particularly interested in the socioeconomic issues facing the proletariat, a group of laypeople. Furthermore, there is no question that his activity is driven by a desire to lessen their suffering, in his opinion. Option D was implied. Option A cannot, however, be inferred from the paragraph. As a result, it is correct.
Question 4
Which of the following best summarizes the author’s main point?
(A) Marx and Durkheim were similar in their ideas.
(B) Freud, Marx, and Durkheim were all social scientists.
(C) Philosophers, among others, who are regarded as theoreticians can also be regarded as empiricists.
(D) Marx and Durkheim were applied social scientists because they were concerned with the solution of social problems.
(E) Pure and applied sciences have fundamentally similar objectives.
Answer: D
Explanation: Option D summarises the author’s main point of the passage. As suggested by the passage. Both Durkheim and Marx saw science as a tool for social change and were professionally attuned to the ideals and issues of ordinary people in his society.
Suggested GMAT Reading Comprehension Samples
- The identification of femininity with morality and a belief in the innate moral superiority of women GMAT Reading Comprehension
- After the Second World War, unionism in the Japanese auto industry was company-based GMAT Reading Comprehension
- Planter-legislators of the post-Civil War southern United States enacted crop lien laws GMAT Reading Comprehension
- Visual Recognition Involves Storing and Retrieving Memories GMAT Reading Comprehension
- TraTraditional Social Science Models of Class Groups in the United States are Based on Economic Status GMAT Reading Comprehension
- Solar Ponds are Bodies of Water in Which Circulation is Incomplete GMAT Reading Comprehension
- Ethnohistoric Documents from Sixteenth-Century Mexico Suggesting that Weaving and Cooking GMAT Reading Comprehension
- Many United States Companies Believe that the Rising Cost of Employees' Health Care Benefits GMAT Reading Comprehension
- Dendrochronology, The Study of Tree-Ring Records to Glean Information About the Past GMAT Reading Comprehension
- What kinds of property rights apply to Algonquian family hunting territories GMAT Reading Comprehension
- Although the Industrial Union Organizations that Emerged GMAT Reading Comprehension
- According to P. F. Drucker, the management philosophy GMAT Reading Comprehension
- The United States Hospital Industry is an Unusual Market GMAT Reading Comprehension
- In a New Book About the Antiparty Feeling GMAT Reading Comprehension
- Conventional Wisdom has it that Large Deficits GMAT Reading Comprehension
- The Professionalization of the Study of History GMAT Reading Comprehension
- Many People Believe that Wages are Lower in Developing Countries GMAT Reading Comprehension
- In the 1980's, Astronomer Bohdan Paczynski Proposed a Way of Determining GMAT Reading Comprehension
- The General Density Dependence Model can be Applied GMAT Reading Comprehension
- The System of Patent-Granting, Which Confers Temporary Monopolies GMAT Reading Passage Comprehension
Comments