View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What field does Wilson say philosophers and scientists should collaborate in?
(a) International relations.
(b) Conflict resolution.
(c) Biology and social sciences.
(d) Urban planning.

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

4. Wilson says that biological classification is based on the "Origin of Species" and what?
(a) Dianetics.
(b) Systems theory.
(c) Systematics.
(d) Military organization.

5. How can science help us, in Wilson's account?
(a) Science can expand the limits of what we can see.
(b) Science can reveal the extent of human powerlessness.
(c) Science can show us how our impressions are created by our feelings.
(d) Science can give us better stories to tell about psychological nature.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who influenced Wilson's idea of unified learning?

2. What qualities of mind drove the techno-scientific age?

3. Where does the unification of intellectual work have its benefit, in Wilson's account?

4. How did Wilson react against the religion he inherited?

5. What is Wilson ultimately interested in producing with consilience?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How is knowledge accepted as settled, or final?

4. What justification does Wilson provide for integrating philosophy with biology, social science and the humanities?

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

6. What does E.O. Wilson mean by the Ionian Enchantment?

7. How do anatomical limitations affect our science, in Wilson's account?

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

9. How would you describe Rousseau's influence on Wilson's idea of consilience?

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 735 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample