Practice Questions for Philosophy of Biology
1. Can you think of a definition of life that would exclude computer viruses but
allow extraterrestrial life?
2. Explain the distinction between epistemological and ontological questions with
some examples.
3. What is vitalism? How is it discredited? Does that mean we are all
reductionists? Why?
4. What are the three criteria for evolution by natural selection? Explain each in
one or two sentences.
5. What are the three criteria used to identify different types of reductionism?
What is the weakest form of reductionism? Which criteria does it satisfy?
6. Explain the difference between abstract hierarchical and strong reduction
giving one example of each.
7. What is Smuts’ definition of holism? When many such a view be plausible?
8. What are “co-operative phenomena”? Why are they supposed to present
difficulties to reductionism?
9. Why is the phenomenal of “self-regulation” supposed to present difficulties to
reductionism?
10. Explain how the allostery model provides an example of the strong reduction
of a co-operative phenomenon.
11. Explain how the operon model provides an example of the strong reduction of
a self-regulatory behavior.
12. Explain why Mendelian explanations using the distribution of traits across
pedigrees are only abstract hierarchical reductions but not strong reductions.
13. What is the disagreement between Kitcher and Schaffner? Who is correct?
Why?
14. In his chapter on reduction in molecular biology, does Sarkar agree more with
Kitcher or Schaffner? Why?
15. What are the three different ways in which “information” has been construed
in molecular biology.
16. Where does Oyama think information comes from? Why?
17. What is the Central Dogma of molecular biology? Is it related to the noninheritance of acquired characteristics? Why?
18. How has eukaryotic genetics begun to pose difficulties to the view that the
genome is a repository of information?
19. Give five similarities between DNA and language. Give five dissimilarities
between DNA and language.
20. What does it mean to say that development can be reduced to genetics?
How would such a view guide research?
21. What does it mean to say that genetics is being reduced to development? Is
such a view plausible? Why? How would it guide research?
22. What is a developmental system? How is an approach to behavior based on
developmental systems different from one based on genetics?
23. Is Schaffner a developmentalist? Why? Does it matter?
24. What does Wimsatt mean by “generative entrenchment”? Why is it supposed
to help capture the “innate-acquired” distinction?
25. Do you think that the “innate-acquired” distinction is correct? Why? Explain
your answer by giving specific examples.
26. What is functionalism in the philosophy of mind? Why is it a challenge to
reductionism?
27. Why is the existence of subjective experience supposed to be a problem in
giving a reductionist account of the mind?
28. What is intentionality? Why is it hard to explain from a reductionist point of
view?
29. What are some of the problems with substance dualism as an account of the
mind?
30. What are the relations between the modularity of the brain and modularity of
the mind?