Q19

[melmoththewanderer88]

Why is letter B incorrect here? In line 17 it says that evolutionary biologists have acceded to intellectual disdain for the merely particular.

[tommywallach]

Hey Melmoth,

I see where you're getting this, but the particulars of what's written get in the way.

The line you quote says "Some evolutionary biologists have also acceded to the general intellectual disdain for the merely particular and tried to emulate physicists..."

Now let's rewrite Question 19 with (B) as the answer:

Determinist biologists have tried to emulate physicists because these biologists believe that physicists have been accorded more respect by their fellow scientists than have biologists.

Compare this to the quote. There is a major problem, and it's the use of the word "because". It also may be problematic if you misunderstand the meaning of "accede": "become a member of a community or organization". In other words, these physicists have joined in the disdain and tried to emulate physicists. But they are not emulating physicists because of the disdain. They are joining in the disdain and emulating physicists because "Science is supposed to be the study of what is true everywhere and for all times" (lines 4-5), and we know that some evolutionary biologists agree with this.

Hope that helps!

-t