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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the relationship between politicians and intellectuals, in Wilson's account?
(a) They are not related.
(b) They have a mutually supportive role.
(c) They obfuscate each other's work.
(d) They misinterpret each other's work.

2. What does Wilson say was the consequence of Robespierre's employment of the concept of the general will?
(a) Napoleon rose to power.
(b) The French undermined their own revolution.
(c) The French went to war with Russia.
(d) 17,000 Frenchmen were killed.

3. What does temporal-lobe epilepsy cause?
(a) Narcolepsy.
(b) Tourette's syndrome.
(c) Hyper-religiosity.
(d) Catatonia.

4. What was it about armies that Wilson was struck by?
(a) How they were close brotherhoods.
(b) How they were organized.
(c) How they were supported by an entire society.
(d) How they were subsidized by communities or nations.

5. What event marks the end of the Enlightenment, in Wilson's account?
(a) The American Revolution.
(b) The death of de Sade.
(c) The birth of Wordsworth.
(d) The French Revolution.

Short Answer Questions

1. What might be a consequence of the unification of knowledge, in Wilson's account?

2. What is consilience?

3. What effect does Wilson say evolution had?

4. Whose ideas influenced the formation of the French slogan "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"?

5. Where do government policies typically originate, in Wilson's account?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Wilson offer dreams as an example of the need for consilience?

2. What is reductionism, and what makes it useful for science?

3. Why is consilience especially important in studying the mind?

4. How would you describe Francis Bacon's influence on Wilson's idea of consilience?

5. In what way does Wilson distinguish between evolutionary progress and consilience?

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

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

8. How does science impact the arts, in E.O. Wilson's account?

9. How does Wilson offer ants as a metaphor for consilience?

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

(see the answer keys)

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