Comments on: Faux Passing?

By: Metropolis

Metropolis — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:16:03 +0000

Will Wilkinson,

What a brilliant argumentation!

Really, Aristote would have been proud of you.

(And in France, our grades goes from 0/20 to 20/20)

By: Metropolis

Metropolis — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:15:31 +0000

Wikk Wilkinson,

What a brilliant argumentation!

Really, Aristote would have been proud of you.

(And in France, our grades goes from 0/20 to 20/20)

By: Will Wilkinson

Will Wilkinson — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:07:54 +0000

Metropolis,

B+

Sorry.

By: The Doughty Traveler » Blog Archive » Those Amazing French Youths

The Doughty Traveler » Blog Archive » Those Amazing French Youths — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:59:22 +0000

[...] Sanchez is less than impressed by yet another paean to the brilliance of the French youth. Here’s one you’ve probably [...]

By: Metropolis

Metropolis — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:51:08 +0000

“When the subject is inanimate “trahir” translates to “to reveal”. So JS is correct, the question isn’t all that difficult.”

You are wrong.
I’m french student in terminale (I’ve just passed my bac – I apologize for any inconvenience about my english inadequacies), and I was wondering how other countries regard our baccalaureate, so I’ve finally reached this website.

“Betray”, in French as in English, does have two meanings.
1/ Language could betray thought since it could revel it.
BUT
2/ language could also betray thought since it is insufficient to transcribe it in its fullness.
Beckett for example, denounced this betraying in “Waiting for Godot”.
Considering the question as only one is a reprehensible error that will affect one’s grade.

Anyway, philosophy is not only about knowing how to build a thesis/antithesis analysis. It is all about learning to acquire an autoreferential conception of life, to escape of my individuality and accept one’s point of view. In my opinion, here lasts an essential difference between the SAT english essays that doesn’t require great philosophers knowledge.
This year made me open my eyes upon a new dimension of my perception -because life is such a phenomenon that deserves the plurality of point of views to explain it. Since I’ve followed philosophy class, my approach of every thing is so much less trivial, linear, obvious than what I was used to.

Seize life in its heart-breaking complexity is the most beautiful praise that we could deliver to it. Not only a matter of french narrow-minded traditions.

By: Ils Ne Font Pas Des Notes d’une Falaise Pour Cela « Around The Sphere

Ils Ne Font Pas Des Notes d’une Falaise Pour Cela « Around The Sphere — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 17:49:56 +0000

[...] Julian Sanchez The common thread I see is that almost all of these sound rather lofty and, well, French as they are. But they can all be pretty easily paraphrased to sound less highbrow without materially altering the question. Once we’ve done that, they look an awful lot like the essay prompts on comparable American tests: Allowing the brightest students to spread their wings, but also capable of acceptable if rather more workmanlike answers. Now, probably someone like Dana looks at these prompts and immediately starts imagining the kind of complex answer that she, as a college-educated adult, would give to a question like that. Once you make that move, of course, it’s natural to think: “My God, that’s what they expect of their 18-year-olds?” But it’s probably not—it’s what the question leaves space for the brightest of the 18-year-olds to attempt , not the baseline for an acceptable answer. [...]

By: OchoHa

OchoHa — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:40:16 +0000

When the subject is inanimate “trahir” translates to “to reveal”. So JS is correct, the question isn’t all that difficult.

By: Alex Knapp

Alex Knapp — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:05:04 +0000

@B. Kennedy,

A much better urban legend is about the philosophy professor whose final exam consisted of the question: “Define courage.” One student puportedly turned in an empty blue book and received an A.

By: B. Kennedy

B. Kennedy — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:54:34 +0000

Semantics is a refuge for those overcompensating for something.

I remember a story from one of the speakers at a university event. His final exam for philosophy consisted of a single word:

Why?

He then went on to explain some of his student answers, some of them ranging from long tracts about the nature of human inquiry, but his favorite answer was this:

“Why Not?”

I defy anyone to think of a more brilliant final exam question. Or perhaps I’m just easily impressed.

By: Jesse F

Jesse F — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:20:15 +0000

P.S. Julian, if you’ve been enjoying some Steve Reich lately, see if you can check out Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece’s album “Like a Duck to Water.” It’s much, much less wacky than that unfortunate name led me to believe, so I avoided them for years, but that album is some top-notch synthy minimalism. And if you’re acquianted with DJ Shadow’s “Stem/Long Stem”, the first track will sound very very familiar…