1) One common misunderstanding of evolutionary theory is that each of the characteristics produced in the evolutionary process must be adaptations. There are instead cases in which non-adaptive characteristics can become prevalent in populations through evolutionary processes. What does Kitcher give as an example of such a case? Select one: a. sickle-cell anemia in populations subject to some types of malaria b. the tenrecs of Madagascar c. diabetes in giraffes with shorter necks d. homosexuality in human populations in which members of the population have 2D:4D finger ratios 2) Whatever the weaknesses of his criticisms of Scientific Creationism, Gilkey does accurately report on the essentials of Scientific Creationism, as outlined in the Louisiana creation science statute. Select one: True False 3) In an August, 2013, paper in the Journal of Chemical Physics, “Statistical Physics and Self-Replication,” Professor Jeremy England (Physics, MIT), reportedly argues that ... when a group of atoms is driven by an external source of energy (like the sun or chemical fuel) and surrounded by a heat bath (like the ocean or atmosphere), it will often gradually restructure itself in order to dissipate increasingly more energy. This could mean that under certain conditions, matter inexorably acquires the key physical attribute associated with life. 
http://www.simonsfoundation.org/quanta/20140122-a-new-physics-theory-of-life/ England’s account promises to fill an explanatory gap mentioned in RSLM, page 81, concerning how life originated on Earth. Notice however that the description makes no mention of natural selection (or mutation or recombination). Assume that this is not just an omission on the reporter’s part (in fact, it isn’t), and that England’s account of the origin of life does not rely on the notion of natural selection (or mutation or recombination). Then, critics of evolutionary theory might say, if England’s account is correct then this shows that evolutionary theory fails as an explanation of life on Earth: England’s account can explain how life originated on Earth but evolutionary theory cannot. Is this a good objection to evolutionary theory? Select one: a. Yes, and if evolutionary theory fails as an explanation of life on Earth, then either Scientific Creationism or Intelligent Design Creationism will be left as the only alternatives (though not both of these kinds of creationism can be correct). b. No, evolutionary theory is not constrained to use the concepts of natural selection, mutation or recombination and is free to adopt other concepts if they yield better, more unified explanations. c. Yes, and it even promises to provide the missing element in Intelligent Design Creationism: a definition of irreducible complexity. d. No, evolutionary theory is not intended as an explanation of the origin of all life on Earth. 4) Since science is not "a race for the tru ...

1. 1) One common misunderstanding of evolutionary theory is that
each of
the characteristics produced in the evolutionary process must be
adaptations. There are instead cases in which non-adaptive
characteristics
can become prevalent in populations through evolutionary
processes.
What does Kitcher give as an example of such a case?
Select one:
a. sickle-cell anemia in populations subject to some types of
malaria
b. the tenrecs of Madagascar
c. diabetes in giraffes with shorter necks
d. homosexuality in human populations in which members of the
population have 2D:4D finger ratios
2) Whatever the weaknesses of his criticisms of Scientific
Creationism,
Gilkey does accurately report on the essentials of Scientific
Creationism,
as outlined in the Louisiana creation science statute.
Select one:
True
False

2. 3) In an August, 2013, paper in the Journal of Chemical
Physics,
“Statistical Physics and Self-Replication,” Professor Jeremy
England
(Physics, MIT), reportedly argues that
... when a group of atoms is driven by an external source of
energy (like
the sun or chemical fuel) and surrounded by a heat bath (like
the ocean or
atmosphere), it will often gradually restructure itself in order to
dissipate
increasingly more energy. This could mean that under certain
conditions,
matter inexorably acquires the key physical attribute associated
with
life. http://www.simonsfoundation.org/quanta/20140122-a-
new-physics-theory-of-life/
England’s account promises to fill an explanatory gap
mentioned in RSLM,
page 81, concerning how life originated on Earth. Notice
however that the
description makes no mention of natural selection (or mutation
or
recombination). Assume that this is not just an omission on the
reporter’s
part (in fact, it isn’t), and that England’s account of the origin
of life does
not rely on the notion of natural selection (or mutation or
recombination).
Then, critics of evolutionary theory might say, if England’s
account is
correct then this shows that evolutionary theory fails as an
explanation of
life on Earth: England’s account can explain how life originated
on Earth
but evolutionary theory cannot.

3. Is this a good objection to evolutionary theory?
Select one:
a. Yes, and if evolutionary theory fails as an explanation of life
on
Earth, then either Scientific Creationism or Intelligent Design
Creationism will be left as the only alternatives (though not
both
of these kinds of creationism can be correct).
b. No, evolutionary theory is not constrained to use the concepts
of natural selection, mutation or recombination and is free to
adopt other concepts if they yield better, more unified
explanations.
c. Yes, and it even promises to provide the missing element in
Intelligent Design Creationism: a definition of irreducible
complexity.
d. No, evolutionary theory is not intended as an explanation of
the origin of all life on Earth.
4) Since science is not "a race for the truth with starters sharply
distinguishable from non-starters," if one branch of inquiry, B1,
is
less systematic than another branch of inquiry, B2, then B1 is
less
scientific than B2.
Select one:
True
False
5) Feyerabend argues in his comments on the Malleus

4. Maleficarum that
the study of demonology should be a standard part of science
education,
though teaching astrology, a distorted form of early mediaeval
astronomy,
should be avoided.
Select one:
True
False

5. 6) Kitcher reports (100-106) that some Scientific Creationists
have objected to evolutionary theory by arguing that the
evolution of complex organisms from simple ones is highly
improbable, even if one supposes that the universe is billions of
years old and that favorable mutations takes place more often
and more rapidly than is realistically supposed. Kitcher points
out
a number of serious flaws in the objection. He also says that the
objector does calculate something correctly. What, according to
Kitcher is correctly calculated and why doesn't that calculation
provide the basis for a good objection to evolutionary theory?
Select one:
a. calculated correctly: the probability that evolutionary theory
boils down to a tautology; irrelevant because evolutionary
theory
does not boil down to a tautology (55-60)
b. calculated correctly: the probability that a single surviving
organism mutates into a far more complex organism during
billions of years; irrelevant: because the mutation game is a
team sport
c. calculated correctly: the likelihood that a population of, say,
horses can evolve from a population of one-celled organisms;
does not make for a good objection because evolutionary theory
covers many cases of evolution from multi-cellular organisms to
more complex multi-cellular organisms
d. the Scientific Creationist's objection ignores the role of the
principle of natural selection
7) Because Super-acupuncture is based on far more
observational
evidence of the relevant kind than ancient Chinese Acupuncture,
and is
more effective in medical treatment, Super-acupuncture

6. provides a far
better explanation than ancient Chinese Acupuncture of the
effectiveness
of acupuncture.
Select one:
True
False
8) In "Winning through Pseudoscience," Glymour and Stalker
offer six so-
called "fundamental principles of pseudoscience construction:"
Principle 1: A coincidence in the hand is worth two in the
bush. Principle 2: A purpose to everything and everything to
its
purpose. Principle 3: The taller the story, the harder it falls. ...
(it helps
if your theory contradicts a theory nobody much likes anyway)
... Principle 4: Even physics isn't all that precise. Principle
5: Science is
numbers and gauges. Principle 6: Saying no to nit-pickers.
Review of the excerpt of Behe's testimony in Kitzmiller v Dover
(RSLM),
defending Intelligent Design Creationism (IDC) shows that
Behe's defense
is right in line with these six principles! And the origin of IDC
in political
strategizing (Johnson's The Wedge, RSLM). So IDC is a
pseudoscientific

7. "gadget," although one directed at political rather than financial
success.
Does this criticism of IDC show that IDC is pseudoscientific?
Select one:
a. Some of the weaknesses of IDC are described by Glymour
and
Stalker in their discussion of the six principles but there is
substantial work to be done to make it clear how their points
apply, whether they identify all of the relevant weakenesses,
and
it is still not relevant that the development of IDC was both
religiously and politically motivated.
b. No, as stressed in "Astrology" and other chapters of RSLM, a
theory cannot be shown to be pseudoscientific by criticising its
proponents, and that's all the six principles do.
c. Yes, since the record of Kitzmiller v Dover includes evidence
of
lying and dissembling by key members of the Dover County
School Board who said during meetings that they aimed to "get
Christ back into the classroom."
d. No, there is no mention of systematicity (the virtues of
scientific hypotheses: conservatism, generality, etc.) or of the
roughly equivalent characteristics of good explanations given in
Chapter 2 of Kitcher's Abusing Science.
9)The only way to verify the hypotheses of molecular biology is
to rely on

8. evolutionary theory, so molecular biology cannot be used to
provide
evidence for evolutionary theory (-they are not independently
testable, in
Kitcher's terms).
Select one:
True
False
10) Suppose that a theory, T, originated hundreds of years ago;
plays social and political roles of no great significance; is
moderately precise (numerically and in definition of its key
concepts); has been tested very carefully many times; has raised
questions worth answering; is internally consistent; has at least
some conservatism and generality; has been misused by
unscrupulous proponents and has produced dangerous
knowledge; is expertly judged not to be very simple; and there
is
no completely understood physical mechanism for the
phenomena it concerns. Then, according to the standards in
Chapter 2 of Kitcher's Abusing Science (and the roughly
equivalent standard of systematicity),
Select one:
a. T is very highly scientific
b. T is very highly pseudoscientific
c. T is in the mid-range of scientific theories
d. T might fall almost anywhere in the multi-diimensional
science-pseudoscience quality space

9. 11) If astrology is inconsistent with phrenology -
[assume that astrology's slogan is, "Our destiny is in the stars,
not in our brains," and
phrenology's slogan is, "Our destiny is in our brains, not in the
stars"] -
then astrophrenology (=astrology+phrenology) might
nonetheless be true and therefore not pseudoscientific.
Select one:
True
False
12) By any reasonable standard (either the systematicity
standard in "Phrenology" or the standard in Chapter 2 of
Abusing
Science), if all of a theory's predictions about observable
phenomena are false and it has little practical utility, then that
theory is highly pseudoscientific.
Select one:
True
False
13) According to Judge Jones, one of the main reasons that ID
should not be taught in public school science courses is that ID

10. is
false.
Select one:
True
False
14) If Xology is a branch of inquiry that
1. first developed during the 20th century;
2. plays a significant social or political roles in contemporary
society;
3. uses concepts that are very precise;
4. at every time contains only testable theories, where all of
those theories
are known to be internally consistent, and at least somewhat
conservative and general;
5. always attempts to investigate phenomena that are not known
to be
impossible and then seeks to answer questions about the
underlying
mechanisms;

11. 6. never has tried and never will try to explain the ultimate
origin of the
universe;
7. makes little or no use of purpose-directed explanation;
8. is practiced only by those who are open-minded and honest in
their work;
9. has provided information with almost no potential for abuse,
then, according to the criteria of systematicity (in "Phrenology,"
RSLM) and
the roughly equivalent criteria in Kitcher's Abusing Science,
Chapter
2, Xology must be highly scientific.
Select one:
True
False

12. 15) Professor Marc Breedlove worked with other researchers to
measure
the relative lengths of second (index) and fourth (ring) fingers
of human
hands. The results were interesting enough to warrant
publication in one of
the world's leading science journals ["Finger-length ratios and
sexual
orientation," Nature 404 (30 March 2000), 455 - 456]. Because
the
research provided some evidence that prenatal exposure to
particular
hormones increases the likelihood that those exposed will
engage in
homosexual behavior in adulthood, the popular press reported
the results.
In RSLM, some particularly serious errors in one journalist's
reporting and
Breedlove's attempts to correct them are discussed at length.
But
Breedlove found that most of the popular press reports were
fairly
accurate. One of the better popular press reports began by
saying,
In a study sure to provoke a lot of self-examination, a
University of California at Berkeley team has found that
differences in the lengths of one's fingers may yield clues
about sexual orientation.
Lesbians on average turned out to have more "masculine"
hands than heterosexual women - with the index finger
significantly shorter than the ring finger. There was no such
difference in the hands of gay and straight men, however.

13. A few paragraphs later, the author of the press report
cautions, the "self-
examination" would be silly:
Nor can finger lengths be used as a reliable guide to very
much of anything, although it's long been known that men
tend to have longer fingers than women. "The differences are
subtle," said Raymond Blanchard, a pioneer in gender and
sexuality studies .... "There's no way anybody could use this
to screen a date."
Blanchard's remark might make it sound as if the problem
with using the
research results in dating was that very careful finger-length
measurements would be required ("Uh, excuse me while I get
my laser
calipers to measure your finger lengths exactly.") But the rest of
the
discussion explains that this is not the main problem with using
the results
to determine whether or not an individual is a lesbian. What
is the main
problem?
Select one:
a. It's wrong to invade someone's personal space by making
such
measurements, especially if one is unsure of his or her sexual
orientation.
b. None of the research results reported involved men's relative
finger lengths, so measurement would be no help at all with
male
date prospects. Dating techniques that don't apply to half of the
population are discriminatory.
c. Being a lesbian is not a biologically adaptive trait (as

14. "adaptive" is meant in evolutionary theory) which would make
dating lesbians biologically pointless.
d. The research concerns a statistical pattern - described as a
"tendency" - which is not a characteristic of each individual
with
a given sexual orientation and gender.

15. 16) Consider this reason for finding astrology, phrenology and
sexology to
be pseudoscientific:
Astrology tells us that human actions are determined by forces
exerted on us by the stars and planets. Phrenology says that
what people do is determined by their brains. Sexology says that
human actions are determined by the sex drive.
In all three cases, people act not because they choose freely but
because forces beyond their control make them ("determined")
act as they do. But no one is morally responsible for what forces
beyond their control make them do. So in all three cases,
(*) No one is ever morally responsible for any of the actions
mentioned.
Any theory or branch of inquiry that has the latter consequence
[(*)] is a pseudoscience, since it conflicts so radically with the
fact that sometimes, people perform actions for which they are
morally responsible.
How is this line of reasoning flawed as an attempt to distinguish
science
from pseudoscience?
Select one:
a. It would also imply that many scientific theories, e.g.,
Newtonian mechanics, are pseudoscience because they too have
the result that behavior is determined by the laws of nature,
which are surely beyond human control
b. It focuses on the truth or falsity of the alleged pseudoscience,
but the distinction between science and pseudoscience is
primarily about investigation-worthiness, not truth or falsity.
c. It ignores the distinction between a theory and a branch of
inquiry in claiming that sexology says that human action is
determined by the sex drive.
d. all of the others

16. 17) We do not imply that a legislature could never require that
scientific critiques of prevailing scientific theories be taught. ...
teaching a variety of scientific theories about the origins of
humankind to schoolchildren might be validly done with the
clear
secular intent of enhancing the effectiveness of science
instruction. But because the primary purpose of the [Louisiana]
Creationism Act is to endorse a particular religious doctrine, the
Act furthers religion in violation of the Establishment Clause
....
Justice Brennan for the majority in [LouisianaGovernor]
Edwards
v Aguillard, 1987 [quoted in RSLM, 65]
Justice Brennan's qualification, "... with the clear secular intent
of
enhancing the effectiveness of science instruction." suggests
this: if a state legislature reasonably believed that including
comparison of, say, two or three alternatives to evolutionary
theory in public school science classes would advance the goals
of teaching science, then the legislature could require that the
comparison be taught in public school science classes without
violating the First Amendment Establishment Clause - as long
as
the legislature clearly intended the comparison to improve
science classes and not to further a particular religious view.

17. In Abusing Science, Kitcher argued that Scientific Creationism
is
a very weak theory, lacking in almost every characteristic that a
good explanation must have. If Kitcher's assessment is correct,
then Scientific Creationism would be aptly labeled
"pseudoscientific" (by the criteria in Chapter 2 of Abusing
Science). Would it then follow that Scientific Creationism
should
not be among those two or three alternatives to evolutionary
theory? How could including such a weak theory enhance the
effectiveness of science instruction?
Select one:
a. Yes, SC should not be among the two or three alternatives to
evolutionary theory because its indisputably religious origin
makes it impossible to discuss it without furthering religion in a
constitutionally impermissible way.
b. Yes, SC should not be among the two or three alternatives to
evolutionary theory, as Kitcher himself says on pages 180-181
of
Abusing Science.
c. No, it would not follow that SC should be excluded unless
Intelligent Design Creationism were the only other alternative
considered.
d. No, it would not follow that SC should be excluded, because
developing a sharp contrast between a pair (or more) of theories
can be highly instructive.

18. 18) Plantinga gives a counterexample to the general claim that,
as he puts

19. it, "propositions about supernatural beings - that life has been
designed by
a[t least one] supernatural being - are not verifiable or
falsifiable." The
counterexample is the proposition that God has designed 800-
pound
rabbits that live in Cleveland, which is "clearly testable, clearly
falsifiable
and indeed clearly false."
Suppose that Judge Jones
were to reply in this way:
The proposition, "God has designed 800-pound rabbits that live
in
Cleveland" is best understood as three simpler propositions put
together:
10. "There is a God" and
11. "God designed and created everything" and
12. "There are 800-pound rabbits that live in Cleveland"
where the first two are untestable propositions are about
supernatural
beings and the last is a testable proposition that is not about
supernatural
beings. It's only the last proposition that makes the more
complex
proposition testable. Therefore the first two remain untestable
and off-
limits for science.
Which of the following remarks from Laudan's "Commentary:
Science at
the Bar—Causes for Concern," would be most helpful to
Plantinga in giving
an effective rejoinder to the Judge's supposed reply?
Select one:
a. "However noble the motivation, bad philosophy makes for
bad

20. law."
b. "As numerous authors have shown, the requirements of
testability, revisability, and falsifiability are exceedingly weak
requirements."
c. "Rather than taking on the creationists obliquely and in
wholesale fashion by suggesting that what they are doing is
'unscientific' ... we should confront their claims directly and in
piecemeal fashion by asking what evidence and arguments can
be marshalled for and against each of them."
d. "... many scientific claims are not testable in isolation, but
only
when embedded in a larger system of statements, some of
whose consequences can be submitted to test."

21. 19) Although IDC is said to hold that some complex biological
systems are
surely or almost surely designed, it is worth considering
separately the two
views combined:
(a) some complex biological systems are surely (i.e., must have
been) designed; and (b) some complex biological systems are
almost
surely (i.e., very probably) designed.
It is worth considering them separately because very different
sorts of
arguments are required to establish each of these claims.
Which of (a) or (b) does the following argument support best?
…let's do our own quick calculation [for Russell Doolittle's idea
about the
evolution of the blood clotting mechanism]. Consider that
animals with

22. blood-clotting cascades have roughly 10,000 genes, each of
which is
divided into an average of three pieces. This gives a total of
about 30,000
gene pieces. TPA [Tissue Plasminogen Activator] has four
different types of
domains. By "variously shuffling," the odds of getting those
four domains
together is 1 in 30,0004, which is approximately 10-18. Now, if
the Irish
Sweepstakes had odds of winning of 10-18, and if a million
people played the
lottery each year, it would take an average of about 1012 years
before
anyone (not just a particular person) won the lottery.…
Doolittle
apparently needs to shuffle and deal himself a number of perfect
bridge
hands to win the game. (from ID Creationist Michael Behe)
Select one:
a. (a), because if (a) is shown, then (b) follows, and it is better
to show both since generality is a virtue of hypotheses
b. Because IDC is accepted on faith by many people, no
arguments are ever needed to support either of the two claims.
c. -both (a) and (b), because there's no difference between being
that improbable (one out of 10 to the eighteenth power!) and
being impossible
d. (b), assuming that if a system's being very unlikely to come
about by chance, then that system is very likely designed

23. 20) While the most systematic theories are rich in all of the
virtues, it is
sometimes reasonable to sacrifice some of one virtue for a gain
in another.
Which of the following yields a good example of a reasonable
"trade-off"
between conservatism and generality?
Select one:
a. Super-acupuncture vs. Chinese acupuncture
b. the Bible vs. the Malleus Malleficarum
c. phrenology
d. the Scientific Creationist hypothesis that the universe is less
than 20,000 years old

24. 21) .. [A]n astrologer cannot justify the values of the aspects
[houses,
signs, planets, etc.] in the same way that a chemist or physicist
can
justify the ordering of the elements in the periodic table. ... they
will
not be real reasons at all, but rather rationales which work
mostly by
manipulating association and analogy.... answers to these sorts
of
“why” questions can tell us much about the mind-set and world
construction of ancient astrology. But they can never justify the
meanings attributed to its terms and relations. In the end all that
can
be said is that the meanings are so and not otherwise because
astrologers have agreed that they are so and not otherwise.
Roger
Beck, A Brief History of Ancient Astrology (Blackwell
Publishing,
2007), pp. 40-41.

25. Beck's point can be seen as a generalization of some remarks
made in
“Astrology,” in the paragraph mentioning Mars and Neptune.
For example,
as the “home” of the ancient god of the oceans, Neptune is
associated with
water and by further analogy also with indecisiveness.
According to Beck,
astrology cannot justify these associations.
This suggests a way of repairing the fourth criticism of
astrology by revising
it as follows:
(*) Astrology is a pseudoscience because it is in large part
based on
observations of analogies between aspects of nature, and
astrology
cannot justify these analogies.
What's wrong with this criticism (*) as an attempt to show that
astrology is
a pseudoscience?
Select one:
a. Beck relies on an analogy himself when he says that
astrological claims cannot be justified in the same way as are
claims in chemistry and physics that rely on the periodic table.
In
saying this, he assumes that there is a disanalogy between
astrology and real science.
b. There could be scientific theories that rely on enlightening
and
instructive analogies but which themselves do not have the
resources to justify those analogies.
c. Beck makes the same mistake as is made in criticizing
astrology as an excuse-generator for the missed predictions of
astrologers. When he says "because astrologers have agreed that

26. ... " he is criticizing the proponents of a theory and not the
theory itself.
d. This proposal ignores the fact that astrology is also in large
part concerned with making accurate astronomical observations
where analogy is not involved.
22) Any theory that
13. did not originate in ancient superstitions;
14. has changed significantly since it was first developed;
15. is not about what’s known to be physically impossible and
instead
16. talks about phenomena that are likely to occur and for which
there
are known physical mechanisms;
17. depends on reliable sources of information about those
phenomena;
18. has been tested and is thus testable;
19. is not dogmatically held by anyone;
20. has a recognized social role;
21. employs precisely defined concepts;
22. offers no purpose-directed explanations;
23. is not about the ultimate origin of the universe;
24. proposes laws of nature;
25. has simplicity, generality and conservatism; and
26. is internally consistent
would be highly scientific.
Select one:
True
False

27. 23) Given what he says about evolutionary theory in Abusing
Science, Kitcher would agree that evolutionary theory is a
theory
in the sense defined in the Dover County School Board's
disclaimer:
"A theory is defined as a well-tested explanation that unifies a
broad range of observations."
Select one:
True
False
24) Which of the following reasons is the best reason for
rejecting the
claim that, "During the last fifty years, some people have been
shown to
have some sort of 'ESP'."?
Select one:
a. Despite a great deal of effort during the last 130 years or so,
no properly designed and analyzed experiment has ever
provided
any evidence that some people have 'ESP'.
b. ESP has been shown to be inconsistent with the known laws
of
nature.
c. According to the standard of systematicity ("Phrenology,"
RSLM) and the roughly equivalent standards in Chapter 2 of
Abusing Science, parapsychology is highly pseudoscientific.
d. The subject-defining concept of "ESP" has no clear

28. characterization.
25) Demonic possession and miraculous events are both
examples of paranormal phenomena. Parapsychology is the
study
of paranormal phenomena. A careful look at the data shows that
despite many years of trying, not a single properly performed
experiment has shown the existence of any paranormal
phenomena. So there is no reason to accept any of the claims of
Angelic Science or Scientific Creationism.
What is a good reason to reject this line of reasoning?
Select one:
a. It trivializes religious belief to consign spiritual phenomena
to
parapsychology which is after all a common example of
pseudoscience.
b. Parapsychology's failure may indicate a failure to look for
such
occurrences, or a failure to look in the right way; and there may
be independent reasons for any claims made by Angelic Science
and Scientific Creationism.
c. all of the others.
d. Since parapsychology aspires to scientific status, study of
religious phenomena is off-limits for it.
26) Ruse and Kitcher would agree that a predictively successful

29. theory
with substantial explanatory power should not be rejected at the
first sign
of evidence against the theory.
Select one:
True
False
27) The aim of science is to discover facts.
Select one:
True
False
28) The main weakness of naive falsificationism is highlighted
by the
problem of auxiliary hypotheses.
Select one:
True
False
29) Your true statement
“I now see some words”
is testable, but since it is obviously true, the statement is not
falsifiable.

30. Select one:
True
False