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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Wilson say that humans are incapable of seeing?

2. What does Wilson say evidence from the natural sciences says about Enlightenment thinkers?

3. What does science try to integrate, in Wilson's account?

4. What is the relationship between politicians and intellectuals, in Wilson's account?

5. How has the postmodern fragmentation of knowledge affected consilience, in Wilson's account??

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the modern theory of dreams explain something like the presence and significance of snakes in dreams, in Wilson's account?

2. What three-part division does Wilson divide the brain into?

3. What is the relationship between chaos theory and consilience?

4. What does Wilson offer as an alternative to scientific knowledge and consilience?

5. What consequence does Wilson hope consilience can have on public policy?

6. How does Wilson describe the mindset necessary to be a scientist?

7. How would you describe Condorcet's influence on Wilson's idea of consilience?

8. Why does Wilson cite Einstein as an example of someone who practiced consilience?

9. How did Wilson arrive at his theory of consilience?

10. How would you describe John Locke's influence on Wilson's idea of consilience?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The model for scientific work is based on hypothesis and testing, with each discovery creating the need for further testing and further hypotheses and publications--but Wilson describes scientific knowledge as settled and established. Is Wilson overlooking the uncertainty in scientific work and generalizing the results? Does the scientific method itself foster consilience or undermine it?

Essay Topic 2

Part of Wilson's argument about the value of science is the technology that science has required for its own purposes, or produced for consumers, but applied science seems to be different than the pure science Wilson is talking about throughout 'Consilience', especially when the perpetual drive to innovate in business has required the policy of planned obsolescence, where everything technological is designed to be superseded by new products in the future. Does this present a problem for consilience, or is this beyond the scope of Wilson's argument? How do science's industrial uses, which seem to tend toward dispersion, relate with the possibility of science's unification?

Essay Topic 3

What kinds of situations or uses would consilience be best for, and what kinds of knowledge or what situations would not benefit by a 'consilient' perspective? What are the limitations of Wilson's consilience? What are the strengths?

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