OE


The "contradictions in the philosopher's life were more $\(\qquad\)$ " given that the philosopher had some characteristic that led to "profound insights," meaning a very deep understanding or awareness. Since the second blank is that characteristic, start there. Although "prodigal" is often used to mean extravagant, here it means something more like abundant. The second blank must mean something like skill then, because a high level of intellectual skill would logically lead to deep understanding, and the first blank must mean surprising, because it would be surprising if someone who was very skilled at making good judgments had a lot of contradictions in his life. The correct answer to the first blank is "confounding," which means surprising. "Insightful" and "unpremeditated" are words associated with thought, but they do not fit the desired meaning for the first blank. The correct answer for the second blank, "acumen," is the skill of making good judgements. "Vacuity," which means empty-headedness, is the exact opposite of what is needed. "Veracity" means truthfulness, which is tempting, but doesn't quite fit with the clue. A truthful person is not necessarily going to have deep insights.