PrepTest 131, Section 1, Question 19
Geneticist: Genes, like viruses, have a strong tendency(68 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(10 more words not shown)
- ABringing about the(12 more words not shown)
- BCreating replicas of(11 more words not shown)
- CThe behavioral definition(8 more words not shown)
- DTo ignore the(13 more words not shown)
- EBiologists have insufficient(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Does copying yourself count as being selfish? That is the dispute here. Some biologists use the label for genes' tendency to replicate, while the geneticist says the label does not fit.
We should not get sidetracked into whether genes have intentions. The passage explicitly says the label is behavioral: it describes what genes do without attributing a plan or motive to them. The geneticist accepts that point for the sake of the argument and still objects to the label.
What we’re looking for
The proposed standard is that selfishness concerns bringing about the best conditions for oneself. But where is the connection between that standard and making copies? Saying “creating replicas is not selfish” gives the judgment we are trying to justify. We need to know why replication fails the stated standard. For the conclusion to follow, an assumption saying that replication does not help bring about the best conditions for oneself would fill the gap.
Working the answers
- A
This ranks helping oneself against helping others. The geneticist is not asking which is more important or morally preferable. We need to determine whether replication fits the stated meaning of selfishness, and a ranking of importance does not settle that.
- BCorrect
Selfishness requires a connection to bringing about the best conditions for oneself. B says making replicas does not help bring about those conditions. Replication therefore lacks the feature the geneticist says is required for selfishness. That supports the claim that calling genes selfish on the basis of their replication is a misnomer.
- C
A specialized behavioral definition might differ from an everyday definition. That does not establish that replication fails the standard the geneticist has actually given. The argument already sets intentions aside; pointing to a difference in ordinary usage does not supply the missing connection between copying and one's own conditions.
- D
The passage already acknowledges that viruses replicate too. More importantly, the geneticist's objection concerns whether replication merits a particular label, not whether it is unique to genes. Something else replicating does not establish that replication is unselfish.
- E
Insufficient evidence would justify withholding a judgment, not the firm conclusion that the label is wrong. The geneticist also argues from a definition rather than from a shortage of data. E does not establish that replication fails the definition.
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