Question
Walter Benjamin wrote that statements of this kind “cannot be applied to a specific situation” but “have a kind of magical character” to “transform the situation” in a short essay on them. For 10 points each:
[10e] Paremiology studies what statements, a Biblical book of which joins the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes among those credited to King Solomon?
ANSWER: proverbs
[10m] Agur’s Biblical question “Who has ascended to heaven?” is paralleled by a proverb in the last stanza of an Akkadian dialogue named for this philosophical attitude. Hegesias and Buddhist versions of this attitude were cited in a namesake controversy sparked by the posthumous fame of the author of Parerga and Paralipomena.
ANSWER: pessimism
[10h] The opening of the Biblical Proverbs mirrors the opening dedication of this Fifth Dynasty vizier’s forty-three maxims, for which he has been championed as the first philosopher.
ANSWER: Ptahhotep I [or Ptahhotpe]
<Philosophy - Philosophy>
Summary
| 2024 ARGOS @ Brandeis | 03/22/2025 | Y | 3 | 16.67 | 100% | 33% | 33% |
| 2024 ARGOS @ Stanford | 02/22/2025 | Y | 3 | 16.67 | 67% | 100% | 0% |
| 2024 ARGOS Online | 03/22/2025 | Y | 3 | 13.33 | 100% | 33% | 0% |
Data
| I wish it were possible to freeze time so I would never have to watch you retire | CLEVELAND, THIS IS FOR YOU! | 10 | 10 | 0 | 20 |
| Thompson et al. | UBC | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| throw away your cards, rally in the streets | Aw we're so sorry to hear that maman died today, she gets five big booms | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |