Understanding Thomas Hardy
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Understanding Thomas Hardy
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*This passage is the property of Khan Academy and has been reformatted into an AAMC-style interface in their entirety by MedLife Mastery. MedLife Mastery does not endorse and is not an affiliate of Khan Academy.
Writer Thomas Hardy fits neatly into the general scheme of the literature of the second half of the nineteenth century, for he was about midway between writers Matthew Arnold and Walt Whitman. He believed in the efficacy of the knowledge given to one by an understanding of science; but he felt that new points of view should be impregnated with the ancient lore of the past. He believed that old wine should be kept in new bottles. He refused to follow the writers who called themselves realists into the morass of words that they accumulated in their attempts to portray life and character as they thought they were. Likewise, he refused to give himself to pure impressionism. He endeavored to preserve a balance between objective reality and his interpretation of it. He was in the old sense of the word a literary artist.
Hardy, of course, read the events of human life in the light of his conception of the Immanent Will. He believed that the skein of circumstance, woven blindly and flung forth indifferently, caught up in its web all human beings from the emperor in his palace to the unconscious lout lying drunk in the ditch. But Hardy was not satisfied to hold this view conjecturally. He scanned the pages of philosophy, of science, and of history to be certain that he read life a right. From them he evolved a view of life which has been called scientific determinism. It seemed to him that men moved as automata, each within his own sphere. Unseen forces played upon them; unseen powers directed them.
These forces, the physical manifestation of the metaphysical Immanent Will, were three in number, to which all others were subordinated. They were the power of heredity, the shaping power of education, and the influence of the environment. From them there was no escape, for every choice seemingly made by the individual, Hardy thought, was dictated by so many thousand unseen circumstances so interwoven that it was almost impossible to realize the extent to which one was enmeshed in them. For evidence to substantiate this conclusion he could point to the past and to the present. The Greeks, for example, believed that the three Fates directed every action, no matter how minute, of mortals, and Immortals- of the peasant plodding in the field, and of Zeus waving his machinations on the cloud-kissed brow of Olympus. The Christian era had introduced into the intellectual world the contrary idea of Free Will; but the world had split on that interpretation of life during the Reformation, when John Calvin gave to the world from the dark caverns of his mind the gloomy doctrine of Predestination. In the nineteenth century, the western world was probably equally divided between the theory of Free Will maintained by the Roman Catholic Church and a few protestant denominations, and the theory of Predestination held by all churches stemming from Calvinism. Unexpectedly, aid from an unsought source came to those who maintained that human actions were predetermined, for the evolutionary theory, expounded by Darwin and Huxley, and the psychology which grew from it, gave weight to the idea that Predeterminism fitted better with facts than the theory of Free Will. Once an anthropomorphic God was out of the picture and His place taken by an evolving Consciousness, or whatever the mind of man chose to substitute, it was almost necessary to believe in a theory of life similar to that held by Hardy.
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[question] => Which of the following endeavors would BEST exemplify the sense of impressionism alluded to in paragraph 1?
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[answer] => 4
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Reasoning Beyond the Text” question, which means that it wants you to either apply or extrapolate the ideas in the passage to new situations or to assess how new information would impact the ideas presented in the passage. It is important to understand the assumptions underlying the article, and how new information may or may not shift the central thesis.
In paragraph 1, the author describes Hardy as a writer who refused to follow the realists who aim “to portray life and character as they thought they were. Likewise, he refused to give himself to pure impressionism. He endeavored to preserve a balance between objective reality and his interpretation of it.” Based on the last sentence, you can infer that the author believes that impressionists are less concerned with reality and more with “their interpretation of” reality. Option 4 is the only artistic endeavor that does not aim to objectively capture life as it actually appears. Rather, it is an interpretation of the emotional experience of being a teenager.
Option 4 is correct.
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[answers] => Array
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[0] => Array
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[each_answer] => A. A sculpture of a young woman crying as she clutches the figure of a small baby in her arms.
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[each_answer] => B. A novel describing the day-to-day shopping habits of a middle-class housewife.
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[each_answer] => C. A poem detailing the dangerous and unsanitary working conditions of industrial society.
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[3] => Array
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[each_answer] => D. A painting of teenagers suspended in space to portray their social disconnection.
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[1] => Array
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[question] => The author’s descriptions of “the emperor in his palace” and the “unconscious lout lying drunk in the ditch” are used by the author as support for which claim?
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[answer] => 3
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Reasoning Within the Text” question. These items generally ask you to think about the author’s reasoning, such as what claim an author is trying to support with a piece of evidence, what assumption underlies a specific statement, or whether an argument is flawed.
In paragraph 2 the author says that Hardy, “believed that the skein of circumstance, woven blindly and flung forth indifferently, caught up in its web all human beings from the emperor in his palace to the unconscious lout lying drunk in the ditch.” Thus, the author’s description of the emperor and the drunken lout are meant to convey that one’s circumstances are just as determined by chance as another person’s, no matter how disparate their station in life (option 3). This example was not meant to be a commentary on hard work (option 1), differences in wealth (option 2), or class (option 4).
Option 3 is correct.
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[0] => Array
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[each_answer] => A. Hardy believed those who work hard are superior to those who are lazy.
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[each_answer] => B. Hardy believed that socioeconomic divides are inevitable.
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[each_answer] => C. Hardy believed that all walks of life are shaped by uncontrollable events.
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[each_answer] => D. Hardy believed that there were 3 manifestations of the Imminent Will.
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[question] => Based on the philosophical beliefs of Thomas Hardy described in the passage, what can be inferred about the beliefs of writers Matthew Arnold and Walt Whitman?
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[answer] => 2
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Foundations of Comprehension” question which is asking you to recognize an accurate paraphrase or summary of the central theme or of particular statements in the passage, or to interpret word choices made by the author.
The author writes in paragraph 1 that Thomas Hardy’s beliefs were “about midway between writers Matthew Arnold and Walt Whitman.” However, Arnold and Whitman’s beliefs are never directly discussed, so you must estimate their beliefs based on how the author describes Hardy’s beliefs. In paragraph 1, the author writes that Hardy “believed in the efficacy of the knowledge given to one by an understanding of science; but he felt that new points of view should be impregnated with the ancient lore of the past.” Thus, we can assume that Arnold and Whitman must have had opposite perspectives about the value of older knowledge versus the value of contemporary knowledge (option 2). Additionally, the phrase “old wine should be kept in new bottles” illustrates that the key contrast is old versus new, but this is a metaphor for Hardy’s beliefs and not to be taken literally (option 3). Hedonism refers to the pursuit of pleasure and self-indulgence, while asceticism refers to avoidance of pleasure and self-indulgence (option 1). These concepts are not directly related to what is discussed in paragraph 1. The discussion of fate and free will (option 4) does not arise until later in the passage and is not directly related to the differing views of Whitman and Arnold.
Option 2 is correct.
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[0] => Array
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[each_answer] => A. One believed in hedonism while the other believed in asceticism.
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[each_answer] => B. One valued ancient tradition while the other valued modern progress.
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[2] => Array
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[each_answer] => C. One preferred new bottles and the other preferred old wine.
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[each_answer] => D. One believed in fate and the other believed in free will.
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[quiz_unique_key] => 872728905
[question] => According to the passage, which two viewpoints contradicted each other regarding the existence of Free-Will?
[value] => Array
(
[answer] => 1
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Foundations of Comprehension” question which is asking you to recognize an accurate paraphrase or summary of the central theme or of particular statements in the passage, or to interpret word choices made by the author.
The opposing positions described in the text are that of accepting that Free Will exists versus some form of determinism in which actions are outside the control of humankind. The text says that Hardy “scanned the pages of philosophy, of science”, and that “from them he evolved a view of life which has been called scientific determinism.” This suggests that the view of science was similar (not contrary) to that of the ancient Greeks who “believed that the three Fates directed every action” (option 4). Psychology is mentioned only as something that “grew from” and thus was not contrary to evolutionary theory (option 3). Also, evolutionary theory is claimed to “aid” the “doctrine of Predestination” espoused by Calvinism (option 2). That Calvinist view is described as one half of the “split on that interpretation of life” during the Reformation, with the contrasting half being the “theory of Free Will maintained by the Catholic Church” (option 1).
Option 1 is correct.
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[each_answer] => A. Catholicism and Calvinism
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[each_answer] => B. Calvinism and Evolutionary Theory
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[each_answer] => C. Evolutionary Theory and Psychology
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[each_answer] => D. Ancient Greek philosophy and science
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[quiz_unique_key] => 3143847772
[question] => Which of the following arguments would strengthen the author’s claim about the relationship between predestination and evolutionary theory?
[value] => Array
(
[answer] => 4
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Reasoning Beyond the Text” question, which means that it wants you to either apply or extrapolate the ideas in the passage to new situations or to assess how new information would impact the ideas presented in the passage. It is important to understand the assumptions underlying the article, and how new information may or may not shift the central thesis.
In paragraph 3, the author talks about the divide between the theory of Free Will and the theory of Predestination. The author mentions Calvinism as a religion that advanced the truth of Predestination in the nineteenth century. The author then argues that not only was there growing support for Predestination within the religious sphere, but also within the realm of science, specifically the theory of evolution. The author writes, “…the evolutionary theory, expounded by Darwin and Huxley…gave weight to the idea that Predeterminism fitted better with facts than the theory of Free Will.” The author argues that evolutionary theory gave way to a sort of “evolving consciousness” that replaced the traditional “anthropomorphic God” making it “almost necessary to believe in a theory of life similar to that held by Hardy.” First, the argument that evolutionary theory predicts change over time and not daily decision-making (option 1) weakens the authors’ claim because that would make the theory irrelevant to the decisions that the notion of Free-Will deals with. Second, the argument that Calvinists believe in both God and Predestination (option 2) would have no effect on the author’s claim because it does not involve evolutionary theory. Third, emphasizing how evolution and religious notions differ (option 3), weakens the similarity the passage tries to draw between religious and scientific notions of determinism that contrast against Free Will. The last argument gives more specific support to the passage’s general claim that evolutionary theory and “the psychology that grew from it” support the ideas that human actions are predetermined by natural forces (option 4).
Option 4 is correct.
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[each_answer] => A. Evolutionary theory predicts change over time, not daily decision-making.
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[each_answer] => B. Calvinists believed in God and championed Predestination simultaneously.
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[each_answer] => C. Evolutionary theory is scientific, while Predestination often involves divine forces.
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[each_answer] => D. All human decisions are determined by the brain which is a byproduct of biological evolution.
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[question] => A central thesis in the passage is that Hardy:
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[answer] => 2
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Foundations of Comprehension” question which is asking you to recognize an accurate paraphrase or summary of the central theme or of particular statements in the passage, or to interpret word choices made by the author.
The author never asserts that any single school of thought, whether artistic, scientific, or religious, dominates Hardy’s beliefs or outlook on life. Hardy is not described as a purist, but rather as a writer who had a worldview shaped by myriad belief systems. The entire passage discusses how Hardy’s scientific determinism was shaped by art (impressionism and realism), science (evolutionary theory), and religion (Calvinism) (option 2). Although Hardy is interested in the interplay between heredity, education, and the environment, he did not believe that choices were governed by any single factor (option 1). Contrary to option 3, Hardy was a determinist and Calvinism accepted a form of determinism, whereas Catholicism took the opposing view in favor of Free Will. An “evolving Consciousness” is presented as a more modern and scientific version of determinism replacing Calvinism’s anthropomorphic God. Although both share a determinism generally compatible with Hardy’s view, Hardy is said to have “evolved a view of life which has been called scientific determinism” and preferred old ideas modernized with science. Thus, contrary to option 4, any preference would likely favor the scientific version of an evolved consciousness.
Option 2 is correct.
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[each_answer] => A. was persuaded by science that only heredity guided our choices.
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[each_answer] => B. embraced the cross-pollination of scientific, philosophical, and artistic views of human life.
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[each_answer] => C. favored Catholicism over Calvinism because it offered a more complete explanation of the divine.
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[each_answer] => D. preferred an anthropomorphic God over an evolving Consciousness.
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