Donna Haraway’s Primate Visions is the Most Ambitious Book

Reading Passage Question

Donna Haraway’s Primate Visions is the most ambitious book on the history of science yet written from a feminist perspective, embracing not only the scientific construction of gender but also the interplay
(5) of race, class, and colonial and postcolonial culture with the “Western” construction of the very concept of nature itself. Primatology is a particularly apt vehicle for such themes because primates seem so much like ourselves that they provide ready material for
(10) scientists’ conscious and unconscious projections of their beliefs about nature and culture.

Haraway’s most radical departure is to challenge the traditional disjunction between the active knower (scientist/historian) and the passive object

(15) (nature/history). In Haraway’s view, the desire to understand nature, whether in order to tame it or to preserve it as a place of wild innocence, is based on a troublingly masculinist and colonialist view of nature as an entity distinct from us and subject to our control.
(20) She argues that it is a view that is no longer politically, ecologically, or even scientifically viable. She proposes an approach that not only recognizes diverse human actors (scientists, government officials, laborers, science fiction writers) as contributing to our
(25) knowledge of nature, but that also recognizes the creatures usually subsumed under nature (such as primates) as active participants in creating that knowledge as well. Finally, she insists that the perspectives afforded by these different agents cannot
(30) be reduced to a single, coherent reality—there are necessarily only multiple, interlinked, partial realities.

This iconoclastic view is reflected in Haraway’s unorthodox writing style. Haraway does not weave the many different elements of her work into one unified,

(35) overarching Story of Primatology; they remain distinct voices that will not succumb to a master narrative. This fragmented approach to historiography is familiar enough in historiographical theorizing but has rarely been put into practice by historians of science. It
(40) presents a complex alternative to traditional history, whether strictly narrative or narrative with emphasis on a causal argument.

Haraway is equally innovative in the way she incorporates broad cultural issues into her analysis.

(45) Despite decades of rhetoric from historians of science about the need to unite issues deemed “internal” to science (scientific theory and practice) and those considered “external” to it (social issues, structures, and beliefs), that dichotomy has proven difficult to set
(50) aside. Haraway simply ignores it. The many readers in whom this separation is deeply ingrained may find her discussions of such popular sources as science fiction, movies, and television distracting, and her statements concerning such issues as nuclear war bewildering and
(55) digressive. To accept her approach one must shed a a great many assumptions about what properly belongs to the study of science.

‘Donna Haraway’s Primate Visions is the most ambitious book’ is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 8 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. The passage is primarily concerned with discussing which one of the following?

(A) the roles played by gender and class in Western science in general, and in the field of primatology in particular
(B) two different methods of writing the history of science
(C) the content and style of a proposal to reform the scientific approach to nature
(D) the theoretical bases and the cultural assumptions underlying a recent book on the history of women in science
(E) the effect of theoretical positions on writing styles in books on the history of science

2. Which one of the following best describes the attitude of the author of the passage toward Primate Visions?

(A) The book is highly original and exciting but will be difficult for many readers to accept.
(B) The book is admirable primarily because of the extensive research it reflects.
(C) Although far from groundbreaking, the book is elegantly and coherently written.
(D) While commendably imaginative, the book is, in the end, less than convincing.
(E) The book’s thesis is promising and provocative but half-heartedly argued.

3. The passage suggests which one of the following about the traditional scientific approach to nature?

(A) Scientists have traditionally preferred to tame nature rather than to preserve it.
(B) Scientists have traditionally sought to counter the masculinist and colonialist aspects of Western culture.
(C) Scientists have traditionally assumed that primates were more active participants in the creation of knowledge than were other forms of natural life.
(D) Scientists have traditionally endeavored to conceal the role of government officials and laborers in the construction of scientific knowledge.
(E) Scientists have traditionally regarded nature as something separate from themselves.

4. The passage suggests that Haraway would most probably agree with which one of the following statements about scientists observing animal behavior in the field?

(A) Those scientists who have been properly trained in field techniques will all record similar observations about the animals they are studying.
(B) Primatologists are more likely to record accurate and sensitive observations about the animals they are studying than are other animal behaviorists.
(C) Scientists studying primate behavior will probably record more accurate and sensitive observations than will scientists studying animals that are less like ourselves.
(D) Scientists who study primates will probably be more likely than will scientists studying other animals to interpret an animal’s behavior in terms of the scientists’ own beliefs.
(E) Scientists who take a passive role in interactions with the animals they study will probably record observations similar to those recorded by scientists taking a more active role.

5. The “iconoclastic view” mentioned in line 32 refers to which one of the following?

(A) the assertion that there is no way to construct a unified and comprehensive reality out of the different fragments that contribute to the construction of scientific knowledge
(B) the advocacy of the incorporation of many different sources, both literary and scholarly, into the construction of a unified and overarching Story of Primatology
(C) the argument that the traditional scientific disjunction between active knower and passive object has had troubling political and ecological repercussions
(D) the thesis that the projection of scientists’ beliefs about nature and culture onto the study of primates has burdened primatology with masculinist and colonialist preconceptions
(E) the contention that scientists have not succeeded in breaking out of the confines of either traditional narrative history or history organized around a causal argument

6. The “iconoclastic view” mentioned in line 32 refers to which one of the following?

(A) the assertion that there is no way to construct a unified and comprehensive reality out of the different fragments that contribute to the construction of scientific knowledge
(B) the advocacy of the incorporation of many different sources, both literary and scholarly, into the construction of a unified and overarching Story of Primatology
(C) the argument that the traditional scientific disjunction between active knower and passive object has had troubling political and ecological repercussions
(D) the thesis that the projection of scientists’ beliefs about nature and culture onto the study of primates has burdened primatology with masculinist and colonialist preconceptions
(E) the contention that scientists have not succeeded in breaking out of the confines of either traditional narrative history or history organized around a causal argument

7. According to the author of the passage, which one of the following statements is true of the historiographical method employed by Haraway in Primate Visions?

(A) It is a particularly effective approach in discussions of social issues.
(B) It is an approach commonly applied in historiography in many disciplines.
(C) It is generally less effective than traditional approaches.
(D) It has rarely been used by historians emphasizing causal arguments.
(E) It has rarely been practiced by historians of science.

8. The author uses the term “rhetoric” in line 45 most probably in order to do which one of the following?

(A) underscore the importance of clear and effective writing in historiographical works
(B) highlight the need for historians of science to study modes of language
(C) emphasize the fact that historians of science have been unable to put innovative ideas into practice
(D) criticize the excessive concern for form over content in the writings of historians of science
(E) characterize the writing style and analytical approach employed by Haraway

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