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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through The Arts and their Interpretation.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Under what circumstances are theories accepted universally?
(a) When evidence is supported by interlocking theories.
(b) When experimental data can be confirmed.
(c) When a theory promises to explain phenomena.
(d) When a hypothesis explains phenomena.

2. Why does Wilson say that the concept of evolutionary progress is not easily defined?
(a) Because evolution does not have a goal.
(b) Because the goal of evolution is clear to individuals but not to the race as a whole.
(c) Because it is impossible to predict what conditions will be, and how they will require adaptation.
(d) Because the historical record is unclear, and because the present moment is still chaotic.

3. What two fields did Wilson connect in his theory of unified learning?
(a) Classification and evolution.
(b) Evolution and genetics.
(c) Epistemology and religion.
(d) Philosophy and evolution.

4. How does consilience help us understand organisms?
(a) By seeing their evolution.
(b) By examining their environment.
(c) By examining their organization.
(d) By reconstructing them from cells.

5. What does science seek, in Wilson's account?
(a) Objective truth based on hypothesis.
(b) Probably hypothesis.
(c) The mind of God.
(d) Interesting hypotheses.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which social science does Edmund Wilson say is best situated to bridge the gap between natural science and social science?

2. What causes economic theories to fail, in Edmund Wilson's estimation?

3. What does Edmund Wilson credit human nature with altering?

4. What religion was Wilson born into?

5. How does Wilson explain the ideal scientist's work ethic?

(see the answer key)

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