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.
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.
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 ██ ███ ██████ ██ █ █████████ █████████ ███ ██████████ ██████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██████████ ██████ █████████ ██
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.
a
identify one of ███ ███████ ██████ ██ ██████████ ███████
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.
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.
The main source of controversy is whether universal laws apply to biology. This particular theory isn’t the primary cause of controversy among biologists.
d
provide an example ██ ███ ████ ██ ████████ ████████ ██ ███████████ ██████████
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.
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.
Difficulty
65% of people who answer get this correct
This is a difficult question.
It is slightly harder than the average question in this passage.
CURVE
Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right
25%149
159
75%168
Analysis
Purpose in context (of word, phrase, or idea)
Structure
Critique or debate
Science
Answer Popularity
PopularityAvg. score
a
19%
162
b
6%
159
c
5%
159
d
65%
167
e
5%
156
Question history
You don't have any history with this question.. yet!
You've discovered a premium feature!
Subscribe to unlock everything that 7Sage has to offer.
Hold on there, stranger! You need a free account for that.
We love that you want to get going. Just create a free account below—it only takes a minute—and then you can continue!
Hold on there, stranger! You need a free account for that.
We love that you came here to read all the amazing posts from our 300,000+ members. They all have accounts too! Just create a free account below—it only takes a minute—and then you’re free to discuss anything!
Hold on there, stranger! You need a free account for that.
We love that you want to give us feedback! Just create a free account below—it only takes a minute—and then you’re free to vote on this!
Subscribers can learn all the LSAT secrets.
Happens all the time: now that you've had a taste of the lessons, you just can't stop -- and you don't have to! Click the button.