Your teacher argues that philosophy done well is science and philosophy done poorly is. . . well, philosophy. What advantage is there with doing a philosophy predicated on science (Edward O. Wilson's Consilience) versus a more traditional route? What are the drawbacks to a purely scientific endeavor in this regard?
Related Website: http://www.2think.org/hii/wilson.shtml
Wilson's Consilience was made to give the idea that the world's thinking should be based on the laws of physics. The laws would evolve over time by the laws of evolution. Wilson stated, "[17th and 18th century Enlightenment thinkers] assumed a lawful, perfectible material world in which knowledge is unified across the sciences and the humanities." Wilson believes his method will explain everything in the world.
Philosophy based on science has advantages of traditional philosophy. It shows humans are affected by taboo topics. Wilson stated, "if children are reared apart during the first 30 months or more of their lives and then brought back together again, they would have no barrrier to forming sexual bonds, except being told that this is prohibited by custom and law." The only reason humans do not participate in incest behavior because we are taught or prohibited not to. Philosophy based on science contradicts free will. The philosophy states social animals behave according to their D.N.A, not their mind. Traditional philosophy states free will affects your decisions, not D.N.A. You want to do something, you are not programmed to do so. The philosophy supports racist ideologies. The theory states some groups are biologically superior to others. Another drawback of philosophy based on science is that it is associated with bad results, such as the Holocaust. Wilson countered the argument stated, "it's not the science but the pseudoscience. In the 20th century, the most awful case of pseudoscience, of course, was Nazi eugenics. So what we need is not to avoid more scientific research and understanding." Wilson feels science allows history to not repeat itself and helps avoid disastrous results. 
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