Re: Romano misses no opportunity to (i) ____ the practitioners o
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22 Sep 2025, 13:25
"Romano misses no opportunity to (i) $\qquad$ the practitioners of analytic epistemology. Unfortunately, the overheated rhetoric he habitually employs makes him seem at least as (ii) $\qquad$ as the allegedly narrow-minded academics he is attacking. He charges that they, oblivious in their inbred conventions to time and intellectual culture passing them by, continue to focus on narrow syllogistic arguments in the theory of knowledge. The reasoning of mainstream analytic epistemologists takes a wide variety of forms, and categorizing them as makers of 'narrow syllogistic arguments' (iii) $\qquad$ at best."
Blank (i):
- "heap scorn on" - fits well, indicating Romano harshly criticizes
- "wreck havoc on" - means causing physical damage, less fitting in critique context
- "atone for" - means to make amends, opposite of criticism
Best: heap scorn on
Blank (ii):
- "innocent" - unlikely because he seems as bad as those he attacks
- "intolerant" - fits perfectly, meaning he is as narrow-minded or harsh as those he criticizes
- "scathing" - describes rhetoric, not person's attitude directly here
Best: intolerant
Blank (iii):
- "a caricature" - fits well implying their portrayal is an exaggerated distortion
- "an irony" - does not fit structurally here
- "a ventilation" - unrelated meaning
Best: a caricature
Final chosen:
(i) heap scorn on
(ii) intolerant
(iii) a caricature
So the sentence reads best as:
"Romano misses no opportunity to heap scorn on the practitioners of analytic epistemology.
Unfortunately, the overheated rhetoric he habitually employs makes him seem at least as intolerant as the allegedly narrow-minded academics he is attacking. The reasoning of mainstream analytic epistemologists takes a wide variety of forms, and categorizing them as makers of "narrow syllogistic arguments" is a caricature at best."