Which one of the following best characterizes the author's assessment of the opinions of the new historians of scienc...

Gabriela_Martinez June 13, 2019

I second this. Please explain why E is incorrect and why D is correct.

Victoria June 14, 2019

Hi @BradG and @Gabriela_Martinez,

Let's start by going through the passage.

The first paragraph discusses a recent generation of science historians and states that, rather than portraying accepted scientific views as objectively accurate reflections of a natural world, these historians choose to focus on how such views are impacted by ideological bias or the institutional and rhetorical power of scientists. The author then compares these historians with the slightly more moderate philosophers of science who believe that scientific views are invented by the mind as opposed to reality and they are always inevitably falsified in the future.

The second paragraph argues that the rejection of traditional objectivity, while fashionable, is implausible. To support this argument, the author provides the examples of water being composed of hydrogen and oxygen and parents each contributing 50% of their children's genes, claiming that they do not believe that any "serious-minded and informed person" could argue that these are not objective facts or that they will inevitably be falsified at some point in the future.

In the third paragraph, the author concedes that the accumulation of accurate scientific knowledge is not straightforward and that we need to move beyond the idea that the "truth" of the world will automatically reveal itself to scientists as these truths are often developed based on many prior discoveries. The author also concedes that there have been many scientific concepts which have been corrected by new discoveries and that there are important social factors impacting how research is conducted and how results are disseminated.

In the final paragraph, the author argues that we can accept all their prior concessions without also believing that the "natural reality" of the world never impacts scientific beliefs. The author argues that these new science historians should, instead, focus on illuminating how accurate scientific truths work through social processes to gain general scientific acceptance.

The question stem asks us to select the answer choice which best illustrates how the author assesses the opinions of these new science historians.

A is incorrect because of the concessions made by the author in paragraph 3 (lines 32 to 54).

B is incorrect because, while the author does suggest that the process of scientific acceptance is an important social phenomenon which merits further study, they do not suggest that the opinions of the science historians, i.e. that science merely stems from social factors as opposed to natural realities, merit further study.

C is incorrect because the author actually argues the opposite - that the opinions of the historians are most convincing when regarding the actions of scientific groups as opposed to when they are commenting on the accuracy of scientific information.

E is incorrect because the author does not discuss the future of these opinions. They do concede that these views are popular, but they do not discuss their acceptance in the future outside of suggesting future alternative avenues of study for these historians.

Finally, D is correct largely because of lines 22 to 24 and lines 55 to 57 which state: "while this rejection of the traditional belief that scientific views are objective reflections of the world may be fashionable, it is deeply implausible," and "but one can accept all this without accepting the thesis that natural reality never plays any part at all in determining what scientists believe," respectively. In other words, the author believes that the opinions of the science historians are implausible (i.e. gross overstatement), but that we can also accept parts of these opinions while rejecting those parts that are implausible, thereby contributing valuable insights to the study of science.

Hope this is helpful! Please let us know if you have any further questions.