Self-study
P1
Philosophers of science have long been uneasy with biology, preferring instead to focus on physics. ███
Phenomenon ·
Philosophers of science prefer physics to biology
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.
P2
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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.
P3
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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.
P4
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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.
Conclusion ·
History of evolutionary theory is the history of struggle between these two competing views
Passage Style
Critique or debate
16.
The reference to the formulation ██ ███ ██████ ██ █ █████████
a
identify one of ███ ███████ ██████ ██ ██████████ ███████
The “struggle for existence” is what the biological determinists came up with to
b
illustrate one context ██ █████ ███ ███████ ██ ███████████ ███ ████ ███████
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.
c
highlight the chief █████ ██ ███████████ █████ ███████ ███████ ██ ██████████ ███████
The main source of controversy is whether universal laws
d
provide an example ██ ███ ████ ██ ████████ ████████ ██ ███████████ ██████████
The preceding
e
provide an example ██ █ ██████████ ██████████ ████ ███████████ ██████████ ███████████
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.