PrepTest 111 - Section 2 - Passage 3 - Question 16

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Philosophers of science have long been uneasy with biology, preferring instead to focus on physics. ███

Phenomenon · Philosophers of science prefer physics to biology

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Explanation · Because they mistrust uncertainty

Science is supposed to be about what is universally true. Hence, philosophers of science are interested in the fact that elephants and mice fall at the same rate but not why one is big and another small.

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Biologists 1 · try to emulate physicists by asserting that laws of biology are universal too

E.g., all DNA evolves at a constant clocklike rate

Biologists 2 · question whether biology is universal

Perhaps historical contingency is necessarily a part of biology.

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Illustration of Disagreement · "All planets move in ellipses" v. "All swans are white."

"All planets move in ellipses" is a truly universal claim. Its truth depends only on the laws of physics and hence apply to all planets that exist or could exist.

Biologists 1 · Universal interpretation

These biologists (determinists) claim that "All swans are white" is also universal. Because the laws of natural selection guarantee that outcome.

Biologists 2 · Non-universal interpretation

These biologists (nondeterminists) disagree. They interpret the claim as a matter of historical contingency, not as a necessary truth.

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Conclusion · History of evolutionary theory is the history of struggle between these two competing views

Passage Style

Critique or debate

16.

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Question Type

Purpose in context (of word, phrase, or idea)

Structure

This is a Purpose in Context question. The preceding sentence provides the context here: some biologists attempt to be deterministic, like physicists. These biologists refer to the “struggle for existence” to show a universal law that they believe governs biology.

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The “struggle for existence” is what the biological determinists came up with to try to explain biology under universal laws. (A) misses why the author mentioned the universal struggle for existence: not to identify a driving force of biological history, but to show how the biological determinists tried to emulate the physicists.

19%

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On the contrary, the biologists in question think that the struggle for existence is an example of a universal, deterministic law that applies with certainty.

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The main source of controversy is whether universal laws apply to biology. This particular theory isn’t the primary cause of controversy among biologists.

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The preceding sentence and the clause drawing a comparison to the law of gravity make this clear. According to the author, physicists believe in universal laws, like gravity; some biologists do too. The “struggle for existence” is an example of something that the biological determinists see as a universal law.

65%

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On the contrary, this law is mentioned to give an example of the beliefs of determinist biologists, who don’t believe in the importance of contingency.

PrepTest 111 - Section 2 - Passage 3 - Question 16

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