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Although the number of journals has never been greater and the

flyers announcing new conferences, colloquia, and societies


never as ambitious, it is no secret that something is wrong
with philosophy in the English-speaking world.
 
 
The advances made by Russell, Whitened, Wittgenstein, and
Husserl are now studied by historians, and the boldness which
characterised their age, roughly from 1900 to 1950, has given
way to a spirit of caution, qualification, and retreat.
 
 
This is not to say that talented people no longer study
philosophy, nor that worthwhile contributions have ceased.
Promising work is being done, but too often it is overwhelmed
by pettifogging or left to die in obscurity.
 
 
 
Those unaware of what is happening in philosophy today may be
surprised to learn that few academic philosophers address the
sort of problems one studied in college: death, the existence
of God, the cardinal virtues, the external world, or the
prospects for happiness.
 
 
Instead, if one walks into a classroom or lecture hall, one is
likely to find brief discussions dealing with an odd
assortment of issues about such things as time machines,
adverbs, pains, possible worlds, sexual perversion. Even the
language has changed.
 
 
In many cases, English prose has been replaced by codes,
symbols, and dialects incomprehensible to those outside the
profession and not much better known to some of those inside.
 
 
 
It is not altogether surprising that philosophy has fallen on
hard times. Throughout much of this century, people believed
that philosophical questions were the result of logical or
linguistic confusions. The task of philosophy was to
eliminate them and thereby do away with itself.
 
 
 
The problem is that philosophy is unique among academic
disciplines in that the philosopher is forever plagued by the
question of what his discipline is about. A beginning student
is usually told that philosophy does not deal with facts but
with the analysis of concepts.
 
 
But this characterisation is inadequate because it seems to
suggest that the distinction between the factual and the
conceptual is absolute and that concepts can be analysed
entirely on their own. The philosopher, in other words, need
not bother with what is, has been, or is likely to be the
case.
 
 
 
What emerges is a conception of philosophy that retains its
purity by making a radical distinction between itself and
virtually every other form of knowledge. C. D. Broad once
described philosophy at Cambridge as "almost completely out of
touch with general history, with political theory and
sociology, and with jurisprudence."
 
Few eyebrows would have been raised if he had thrown in a
dozen other departments and perhaps three or four additional
disciplines as well. As for how it is possible to do, say,
ethics in such an environment, Broad and his cohorts had a
ready answer: the moral philosopher must be distinguished from
the moralist.
 
 
The latter takes a stand on important ethical questions and
can be refuted should his evidence prove insufficient. For
him to be ignorant of history, political theory, and
jurisprudence is to run the risk of being wrong. The moral
philosopher, however, only reflects on the language employed
by the moralist.
 
 
Since the philosopher is not in the business of recommending
or criticising courses of action, he can comfortably ignore
the lessons the moralist has to learn.
This conception of philosophy prevailed in the English-
speaking world for about forty years until it fell into
disrepute during the turmoil of the sixties.
 
 
Then sticky questions began to be asked: To whom was such
analysis addressed and for what purpose? If the moral
philosopher had studied the great ethical systems of the past,
why should he not bring his knowledge to bear on the
controversial issues of the present?
 
 
Recently a number of articles have sprung up in the
philosophical journals dealing with abortion, homosexuality,
recombinant DNA research, intelligence testing, and other
issues once thought to be beyond the scope of philosophical
inquiry. Their presence raises the obvious question: What
unique subject or set of problems distinguishes philosophical
inquiry from everything else?
 
 
 
One difficulty is that while other disciplines investigate a
specific range of phenomena, philosophy, particularly in the
hodgepodge conception of it, investigates all of existence.
Worse, while the natural sciences seem to get better as they
get older, philosophy does not. Without a body of accepted
beliefs to build on, philosophers can make interesting points,
but not step-by-step progress.
 
 
A researcher in physics does not have to make a new
beginning each time he walks into his lab; he can assume that
there is a consensus on a large number of issues and thus can
direct his efforts to a few highly restricted problems.
 
 
 
Which of the following titles best exemplifies the passage?
a)    Declines and Falls
b)    Nationalism and Philosophy
c)    Contemporary American Literature
d)    The State of Contemporary Philosophy
e)    The Study of Philosophy
 
 
with the subject of
 
a)    Political theory
b)    Philosophical inquiry
c)    Outdated works
d)    Abstract versions of social theory
e)    Public affairs
 
 
 
 
2 The author states that the philosopher is constantly
 
a)    Out of touch with general history
b)    Defining his discipline
c)    Determining objectives
d)    Investigating specific phenomena
e)    Providing radical alternatives
 
 
3 The moral philosopher does not have to
a)    Be in touch with general history
b)    Recommend a course of action
c)    Account to his colleagues
d)    Study linguistics
e)    Be in touch with reality
 
4 Many philosophers feel that the study of philosophy should
become more
a)    Technical
b)    Popular
c)    Cautious
d)    Moralistic
e)    Dialectic
 
 
5 Which of the following subjects is not generally studied by
academic philosophers?
a)    Time machines
b)    Possible worlds
c)    External worlds
d)    Linguistics
e)    Moral issues
 
6 Recently, the field of philosophy has included I.
intelligence testing II. Language training III. Pure research
 
a)    I only
b)    II only
c)    I and II only
d)    II and III only
e)    I, II, and III
 
7 Which of the following statements best exemplifies the
author's feelings?
a)    Philosophy is in moral decay
b)    Talented people no longer study philosophy
c)    Historians have replaced philosophers
d)    Few academic philosophers are left
e)    Philosophers are too cautious
 
8 A criticism of philosophy is its lack of
a)    Models and constructs
b)    Concepts
c)    Scientific logic
d)    Purity
e)    Thematic perception
 
One of the most rapidly expanding sectors in American life
since World War II has been the government. Local, state, and
national government expenditures for goods and services rose
from 13% of the gross national product in 1950 to 23% in 1970,
reflecting a six fold absolute increase in government
spending.
 
 
The expansion was not limited to traditional domains, such as
defence and welfare. New target areas of government spending
include the physical sciences, social sciences, and the arts.
Federal outlays for research in the physical sciences rose
from $0.6 billion in fiscal 1956 to $2.9 billion in 1963 and
$3.8 billion in 1973.
 
 
Federal support of social science research, which stood at
$30 million in 1956, reached $412 million in 1973 (National
Science Foundation, 1970: 243; 1974a: 149). Expenditures by
the National Endowment for the Arts (1973: 111-112) evidenced
a similar trend: initially appropriated $3 million during its
first year of operation in 1966, the National Endowment's
budget reached $15 million in 1971 and 61 million by 1974.
 
 
 
The institutions engaged in artistic or scientific activity
are centrally concerned with the maintenance and extension of
cultural systems (Parsons, 1961; Peterson, 1976). The growth
of government patronage for these areas suggests that the
facilitation and production of culture has become a major
state activity in the United States.
 
 
The objectives underlying this state intervention are not well
understood. The central purpose of this paper is to evaluate
the relative strengths of several alternative explanations for
the government's involvement in the production of culture.
 
 
 
A second purpose is to suggest the likely impact of government
patronage on the physical sciences, social sciences, and arts
in America.
Four distinct models for explaining the state's growing
interest in the production of culture can be identified.
 
 
One model emphasises the value of patronage for the
maintenance of the cultural institutions in question. A
second model stresses the utility of the investment for
capital accumulation. A third model points toward the value
of supporting science and art for the administration of
government programs.
 
 
The fourth model identifies the ideological potential of
science and art as a primary reason for government patronage.
Science and art for their own sake. The first model of
government patronage is predicated on the structural-
functionalism assumption that the government is a relatively
neutral instrument for the articulation and pursuit of
collective goals in a society with relatively autonomous
subsystems (Parsons, 1969).
 
 
Pure science and art are vital societal subsystems, and the
government moves to protect and develop these areas to ensure
the continued production of culture for the benefit of all
members of society. Thus, the government intervenes directly
as the final patron of public goods that would otherwise be
unavailable. Increasingly, the paradigms (Kuhn, 1970: 175) in
science and art dictate expenditures that increasingly
outstrip the resources of the institutions themselves.
 
 
science research far exceed the commercial potential of most
scientific projects; the cost of conducting systematic and
reliable social scientific investigations can no longer be met
through product marketing or private foundations; what is
more, artistic organisations are increasingly incapable of
underwriting all production costs through income and
contributions.
 
 
 
Under these conditions, government patronage is introduced to
ensure the flow of cultural goods to society.
Two important corollaries follow from this formulation, which
make it empirically testable.
 
 
First, the timing of government intervention should primarily
be related to economic crises faced by the arts and science
themselves, not to crises in the political system, economy, or
elsewhere. Second, government intervention should generally
take the form of protecting the paradigm of the arts and
sciences.
 
 
most creative artists and organisations, as defined by the
relevant artistic community. Similarly, funding should be
preferentially bestowed on scientists whose research is making
the greatest contribution to the advance of the scientific
discipline, regardless of its relevance for outside problems
or crises.
 
 
 
 
According to the passage, the growth in federal support was
greatest for
a)    Goods and services
b)    Social science research
c)    Defence and welfare
d)    Endowment for the arts
e)    Physical sciences
 
The major objective of the passage is to
a)    Increase appreciation for the arts
b)    Provide an ideological basis for artistic funding
c)    explain why government supports cultural activities
d)    Argue for more government support of the arts and sciences
e)    Demonstrate cultural activities in the United States
 
 
 
statement: "Funding should be provided to the best artists and
scientists"?
a)    Science and art for their own sake
b)    Science and art for business application
c)    Science and art for government programs
d)    Science and art for ideological control
e)    All models for government investment
 
 
 
A corollary of the science and art for government programs is
a)    Funding should be provided by government only as a last
resort
b)    Funding will be geared to projects of value to the
government
c)    Funding is to be provided only to nongovernmental
employees
d)    Funding by the government is self-defeating
e)    Funding by the government is inflationary
 
A conclusion reached by the author of the passage is that
a)    The arts and sciences have been funded by the government
for different reasons
b)    Government is a neutral observer of the arts and sciences
c)    Government intervention in the arts and sciences is
declining
d)    The arts and sciences are not dependent on government
funding
e)    Politics and science go together
 
coincide with
a)    Government's ability to pay
b)    Fluctuations in the business cycle
c)    Political needs
d)    Economic needs of the arts and sciences community
e)    The number of needy scientists
 
 
 
 
The idea that government should support the arts and science
only when the market does not provide enough funds belongs to
which school ?
a)    "Their own sake"
b)    "Business application"
c)    "Government programs"
d)    "Ideological control"
e)    All of the above
The idea that cultural goods can no longer be provided solely
by the market system is given by
a)    The author of the passage
b)    The first model of government patronage
c)    The second model of government patronage
d)    The third model of government patronage
e)    The fourth model of government patronage
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Unemployment is an important index of economic slack and lost
output, but it is much more than that. For the unemployed
person, it is often a damaging affront to human dignity and
sometimes a catastrophic blow to family life.
 
 
Nor is this cost distributed in proportion to ability to
bear it. It falls most heavily on the young, the semiskilled
and unskilled, the black person, the older worker, and the
underemployed person in a low income rural area who is denied
the option of securing more rewarding urban employment
 
 
The concentrated incidence of unemployment among specific
groups in the population means far greater costs to society
than can be measured simply in hours of involuntary idleness
or dollars of income lost.
 
 
The extra costs include disruption of the careers of young
people, increased juvenile delinquency, and perpetuation of
conditions which breed racial discrimination in employment and
otherwise deny equality of opportunity.
 
 
 
There is another and more subtle cost. The social and
economic strains of prolonged underutilization create strong
pressures for cost-increasing solutions.
 
 
On the side of labour, prolonged high unemployment leads to
"share-the-work" pressures for shorter hours, intensifies
resistance to technological change and to rationalisation of
work rules, and, in general, increases incentives for
restrictive and inefficient measures to protect existing jobs.

 
 
On the side of business, the weakness of markets leads to
attempts to raise prices to cover high average overhead costs
and to pressures for protection against foreign and domestic
competition.
 
 
On the side of agriculture, higher prices are necessary to
achieve income objectives when urban and industrial demand for
foods and fibres is depressed and lack of opportunities for
jobs and higher incomes in industry keep people on the farm.
 
 
In all these cases, the problems are real and the claims
understandable. But the solutions suggested raise costs and
promote inefficiency. By no means the least of the advantages
of full utilisation will be a diminution of these pressures.
 
 
opportunities are plentiful.
The demand for labour is derived from the demand for the goods
and services which labour participates in producing. Thus,
unemployment will be reduced to 4 percent of the labour force
only when the demand for the myriad of goods and services-
automobiles, clothing, food, haircuts, electric generators,
highways, and so on-is sufficiently great in total to require
the productive efforts of 96 percent of the civilian labour
force
 
 
.
components to meet demands related to the further production
of other goods, all goods (and services) are ultimately
destined to satisfy demands that can, for convenience, be
classified into four categories: consumer demand, business
demand for new plants and machinery and for additions to
inventories, net export demand of foreign buyers, and demand
of government units. Federal, state, and local.
 
 
 
Thus gross national product (GNP), our total output, is the
sum of four major components of expenditure; personal
consumption expenditures, gross private domestic investment,
net exports, and government purchases of goods and services.
 
 
 
The primary line of attack on the problem of unemployment must
be through measures which will expand one or more of these
components of demand. Once a satisfactory level of employment
has been achieved in a growing economy, economic stability
requires the maintenance of a continuing balance between
growing productive capacity and growing demand.
 
 
Action to expand demand is called for not only when demand
actually declines and recession appears but even when the rate
of growth of demand falls short of the rate of growth of
capacity.
According to the passage, unemployment is an index of
a)    Overutilization of capacity
b)    Economic slack and lost output
c)    Diminished resources
d)    The employment rate
e)    Undercapacity
While unemployment is damaging to many, it falls most heavily
upon all except the
a)    Black
b)    Semiskilled
c)    Unskilled
d)    Underemployed
e)    White middle class
 
The cost to society of unemployment can be measured by all
except
a)    Lost incomes
b)    Idleness
c)    Juvenile delinquency
d)    Disruption of careers
e)    The death rate
 
Serious unemployment leads labour groups to demand
a)    More jobs by having everyone work shorter nouns
b)    Higher wages to those employed
c)    "No fire" policies
d)    Cost-cutting solutions
e)    Higher social security payments
 
According to the passage, a typical business reaction to a
recession is to press for
a)    Higher unemployment insurance
b)    Protection against imports
c)    Government action
d)    Restrictive business practices
e)    Restraint against union activity
 
The demand for labour is
a)    A derived demand
b)    Declining
c)    About 4 percent of the total work force
d)    Underutilized
e)    Dependent upon technology
Gross national product (GNP) is a measure of
a)    Personal consumption
b)    Net exports
c)    Domestic investment
d)    Government purchases of goods and services
e)    Our total output
 
According to the passage, a satisfactory level of unemployment
is
a)85 percent of the civilian work force
  bn) 90 Percent of the civilian work force
   c) 4 percent unemployment
   d) 2 percent unemployment
 \e)   no unemployment
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