More Solitary Passages Questions - - Question 12

It can be inferred from the passage that the author would most likely agree with which one of the following statement...

Samantha-Alexis May 25, 2019

Why is B better than D?

Can you please explain why answer choice B is better than D? Thanks!

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Meredith October 10, 2019

Also how B is better than C? I was debating between all three.

shunhe January 11, 2020

Hi @Samantha-Alexis and @Meredith,

Thanks for the questions! We need to find a statement that accurately characterizes the relationship between the philosophers of science and the recent historians, and this is discussed in the first paragraph starting at line 11. We’re first told that the historians seem to find allies in certain philosophers of science due to similarities between their claims—scientific views not being imposed by reality, for example, and scientific views not being objectively accurate reflections of a natural world. In other words, the two views do share some similarities, and this is what (B) tells us.

(C) is incorrect because we aren’t told that the philosophers should be seen as the source of the historians’ views. We are only told that the historians seem to find allies in those philosophers of science, but not that they got their ideas from those philosophers of science.

(D) is incorrect because although the rhetorical power of scientists is referred to in the historians’ views, the philosophers of science aren’t described as emphasizing the rhetorical power of scientists. Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.