Question
click below
click below
Question
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Philosophy Exam
Final Exam
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Philosophy is best defined as | the discipline that teaches us how to articulate, hold, and defend our beliefs. |
Part of the task of philosophy is to | arrive at general truths about almost everything. |
The method of philosophy is | to proceed rationally through reasoning and argumentation. |
An argument is best defined as | a set of propositions from which a view may arise or be defended. |
An argument can be divided into | premises and conclusion. |
A deductive argument can be distinguished from an inductive argument because | only a deductive argument can guarantee the truth of its conclusion. |
What is a valid argument? | The impossibility of having true premises and a false conclusion |
A sound argument is a valid argument with | all true premises. |
Claiming that Nietzsche’s philosophical views are wrong because he died in an insane asylum is an example of | ad hominem. |
Claiming that Kant’s philosophical views are correct because only his views are endorsed by the Critique of Pure Reason by Kant, is an example of | begging the question. |
According to your text and study guide, what is the goal of metaphysics? | To ask and attempt to answer the most basic questions about the universe |
The word metaphysics comes from two Greek words meaning | placed beyond the physics. |
Ontology is best defined as | the study of being as such. |
Cosmology is best defined as | the study of the universe. |
Which issues would one most likely encounter in ontology? | Change and individuation |
Which of the following is the origin of substance? | Two Latin words meaning to stand under |
In philosophy, substance can be used in all the following ways except | to indicate accumulated wealth. |
Philosophically speaking, to what do accidents refer? | Those things said of a substance which are not essential |
A fairly close synonym for accidents is | features |
Two early modern philosophers who focused on the independence of substance were | Leibniz and Spinoza. |
Plato’s theory of metaphysics can be described as two-tiered, the two tiers being | being and becoming. |
In Plato’s allegory of the cave, the sun serves as a metaphor for what? | The form of the good |
What is the best way in which to think of a Platonic form? | As a pattern |
Learning, for Plato, amounts to | recollection |
What are innate ideas? | Remains of what we knew of the forms before we were born |
Aristotle’s ontology consists in | ten categories—one of substance, nine of attributes |
What, for Aristotle, is a secondary substance? | Something like a genus or species |
What are Aristotle’s four kinds of cause? | Efficient, material, formal, and final |
What is a telos? | A goal or purpose |
What is the logical tool Aristotle invented to help him do ontology? | Syllogism |
Fatalism is the view that | certain events are decreed for individual humans and will come to pass without respect to antecedent conditions. |
According to the study guide, there are at least this many levels of predestination: | four |
A paradox is best defined as | a self-contradictory conclusion drawn from seemingly acceptable premises. |
What is the first premise in the paradox of freedom? | All human behavior is causally determined |
What is the second premise in the paradox of freedom? | Man is morally responsible for some of his behavior |
What is the third premise in the paradox of freedom? | Man is never morally responsible for behavior which is causally determined. |
The best definition for causal determinism is that | every event has a sufficient natural cause |
How does hard determinism solve the paradox of freedom? | By accepting premises 1 and 3 but rejecting 2 |
How does soft determinism solve the paradox of freedom? | By accepting premises 1 and 2 but rejecting 3 |
What is a compatibilist? | One who holds that moral responsibility and causal determination are compatible |
Which premise of the paradox of freedom would a compatibilist definitely reject? | _____________________________________________________________________ |
The existentialist solution to the paradox of freedom is best characterized as | humans as agents must be regarded as free |
Who said, “Man’s life is a line that nature commands him to describe upon the surface of the earth, without his ever being able to swerve from it…”? | d'Holbach |
Hume would best be considered | a soft determinist |
Mill and d’Holbach would probably disagree with one another | on human moral responsibility |
A soft determinist would probably define freedom as | a power of acting or not acting according to the determinations of the will. |
Aristotle defines a compulsory act as | an act whose origin is from outside the agent |
Skinner’s attitude toward hard determinism may best be characterized as | optimistic |
Who said, “I am responsible for everything, in fact, except for my very responsibility”? | Sartre |
Burgess worries about determinism because | it robs man of the choice to be good. |
What is the problem of self-identity? | What makes a person the same person over time |
What does Descartes mean when he claims that the soul is unextended? | The soul is not in space. |
This is False of Locke’s memory theory of self-identity except that | consciousness is irrelevant to self-identity. |
What does Hume mean by a bundle? | A bundle of ideas and impressions |
Which of the following is a problem for the body theory of self-identity? | The body changes over time. |
Which of the following is a problem for the no-self view of self-identity? | It is contradicted whenever we refer to “ourselves.” |
Descartes’ two substances are | unextended mind and extended body. |
How does dualism contrast with monism with respect to persons? | Dualism hold that there are two substances, monism only one |
According to your study guide, which philsopher first posed the problem of interaction for Descartes' view? | Hobbes |
Descartes dealt with the problem of interaction by positing that interaction occurred in | the pineal gland. |
Which of the following most nearly represents Spinoza's view of mind and body? | Mind and body are two attributes of the one substance, GOD |
What is occasionalism? | The view that God directly causes interaction on the occasion of a mental event |
Who holds the theory of pre-established harmony? | Leibniz |
Epiphenomenalism contends that | the body can act on the mind, but the mind cannot act on the body |
The logical behaviorist would contend that | mental terms really express dispositions to act in certain ways |
Which of the following philosophers would most nearly agree with logical behaviorism? | Ryle |
The mind/brain identity theory states that | The mind is the same as the brain |
Shaffer argues against Smart's view of the mind on the ground that | mental events are not in space, but physical events are |
What does Leibniz's law of the indiscernibility of identicals claim? | If two things are identical, they must have all properties in common |
What does eliminative materialism hold? | Mental talk is just a holdover from folk psychology |
Epistemology is best defined as | the theory of knowledge |
The word epistemology is derived from two Greek words meaning | the study of exact knowledge |
A skeptic is one who denies | the possibility of knowledge |
Knowledge is best defined as | justified, true, belief |
What does Descartes mean by cogito? | I think that is, experience cognitive activity |
In the last state of his doubting, what does Descartes posit as a possible reason for his deception? | An evil demon |
At the end of his argument, Descartes declares that there is one thing he cannot doubt, and which serves as a bedrock truth. What is it? | His existence |
What does Descartes consider the ultimate guarantor of human knowledge? | God |
For Descartes, when is an intutition most likely to be wrong? | When not clearly and distinctly perceived |
What is a rationalist? | One who holds that knowledge can be had apart from experience |
What beliefs did Descartes hold concerning innate ideas?. | We are born with them |
What is Descartes doing with his wax example? | He is trying to prove that we can know some things apart from experience by an intuition of the mind. |
What is direct realism? | The view that the external world is perceived directly |
Another name for direct realism is | naive realism |
Representational realism is the view that | perceptions are in our minds, but are perceptions of the external world. |
Phenomenalism differs from representational realism in that | it claims that our perceptions do not necessarily correspond to the external world. |
Why does Descartes believe in the reality of the external world? | Because he thinks denying it entails the God is a deceiver |
Solomon points out that Descartes' arguments concerning the possibility of human knowledge in the Meditations are sometimes criticized as being | begging the question |
A major problem with Descartes' argument is that | he seems to assume God in order to prove God. |
Another point of Cartesian epistemology often attacked is | the view concerning innate ideas |
Which philosopher argues against innate ideas? | Locke |
Which philosopher replies to the arguments against innate ideas? | Leibniz |
What is empiricism? | The view that knowledge is founded on sensory experience |
What does Locke mean when he compares the mind to a tabula rasa? | The mind is like a blank sheet of paper-it has no content initially. |
What are primary qualities? | Powers in bodies which produce ideas in our minds representing real features of that body |
Name a primary quality | Shape |
Most empiricists locate secondary qualities in the perceiver because | their subjective nature so dictates |
name a secondary quality | Touch |
What does Locke call substance? | Something; I know not what |
Why can Locke's epistemological views be criticized as impure? | Because, contrary to his thesis, he posits entities by intuition |
What does Berkely mean by "Esse est aut percipi aut percipere"? | If it is neither perceived nor perceiving, it does not exist |
Why is Berkeley called an objective realist | He is not called an objective realist |
What allows Berkeley to account for different perceivers sharing common experiences of objects? | God |
Which of the following are accepted by both Locke and Berkeley? | The Self |
What is Hume's fork? | His division between relations of ideas and matters of fact |
Whcih of the following pairs of view most nearly coincide with Hume's? | Empiricism and phenomenalism |
On what does Hume ground matter-of-fact reasoning? | Cause/effect relations |
What does Hume regard as foundational for our notion of causation? | Experience |
Why does Hume consider Induction worthless | he doesnt |
On which of the following do Berkeley and Hume differ? | Belief in God |
How is morality best defined? | A basic set of rules governing actions |
How is ethics best define | The study of moral principles |
Cultural relativism claims that | different moralities are observed by different cultures |
Ethical relativism | any morality is as correct as any other. |
Ethical absolutism | better than ethical relativism, since it is not self refuting. |
Psychological egoism | claims that we always act out of self-interest |
Ethical egoism claims that | we ought to act for ourselves |
Ethical altruism is probably most consistent with | psychological egoism |
Ethical altruism claims that we ought to | act in the interest of others as well as self |
A problem for the God command theory of ethics is that | disputes arise concerning God's will |
A philospher who accepts the conscience theory of morality is | Rosseau |
How does Aristotle define virtue? | A habit or trained faculty whos characteristic is moderation |
According to Aristotle, what do we choose for itself, but not for the safe of something else? | Happiness |
According to Aristotle, which of the following actions/passions admits of no mean? | Envy |
According to aRistole, what are the extremes of the virtue of wittiness? | Buffoonery and boorishness |
Which of the following people would be happiest in Aristotle's estimation? | The Philospher |
According to Hume, morality is determined by | sentiment |
Hume contends that morality would lose it regulatory force on human conduct if we were to lose two qualities. What are they? | 1. warm feelings for virtue 2. disgust for vice |
Which of the following statements most nearly reflects Rosseau's attitude toward psychological egoism and original sin? | He probably rejects both |
What does Rosseau call the devine instinct, immortal voice from heaven? | The Conscience |
What does Kant consider to be the one thing in the world, or even out of it, which is unqualified good? | A good will |
From which Greek word is deontological derived? | Dein |
According to Kant, why should we do our duty? | Because it is our duty |
How does Kant define duty? | the necessity for acting out of respect for the law |
What is Kant's first formulation of the categorical imperative? | Act only on that maxim where you can, at the same time, will that it should be ca universal law |
What is Kant's second formulation of the categorical imperative? | So act as to treat humanity, whether in thine own person or in that of any other, in every case as an end, never as a means |
What name does Kant give to a subject principle of action? | A Maxim |
Why does Kant feel that suicide is wrong? | Because it treats someone as a means to escape painful circumstances |
Why does Kant feel that making a false promise is wrong? | Because it would make promising contradictory if it became a universal law of nature |
What criticism did Mill lodge against Kant's ethics? | Kantian ethics seem deontological but his arguments amount to consequentialism |
Why are utilitarian ethics usually considered consequentialist? | Because utilitarian ethics ar econcerned with outcomes |
What is hedonism? | The claim that pleasure is the ultimate good |
What are the two sovereign masters under which, according to Bentham, nature has placed mankind? | Pleasure and pain |
What is another name for the happiness calculus? | The felicific calculator |
Whis is the principle of utility? | That principle which approves or disapproves of every action according to the tendency which it appears to have to increase or decrease happiness. |
What are the four circumstances that Bentham identifies as affecting the value of a pleasure or pain in the first instance? | 1. Intensity 2. Duration 3. Certainty 4. Propinquity |
What are the two circumstances that Bentham identifies as affecting the value of a pleasure or pain in subsequent instances? | Purity and Fecundity |
What does Bentham mean by the duration of a pain? | the length of time the pain lasts |
What does Mill consider a higher pleasure? | one which almost all who have experience with it prefer |
What word does Bentham and Mills NOT use as a synonym for pleasure? | Joy |
One difference between dogmatic and natural theology is that | domatic theology depends on revelation, but natural theology does not. |
Besides dogmatic and natural, another division of theology is | mystical |
In philosophy, one who doubts whether or not God exists is called an | Agnostic |
A deist hold that God | is unconcerned with human beings |
A pantheist holds that God | is identical to the universe |
A theist would conceive of God as | possessing personal aspects |
Anselm defines God as | that than which nothing greater can be thought |
How does anselm claim that the fool can say in his heart what cannot be though? | he distinguishes thinking of a thing from thinking of words |
Another philosopher who uses the ontological proof is | Descartes |
Gaunilo objects to the ontological proof because | the same argument could be used to prove a perfect island |
kant objects to the ontological proof because | existence is not a real property |
A cosmological proof differs from an ontological proof in that | an ontological proof is a priori; a cosmological proof is a not |
St. Thomas's first proof is | dependent on the concept of motion |
An objection to Thoma's first proof is that | it is not impossible to have an infinite series of movers |
St. Thomas's second proof is | a cosmological proof |
In st.Thomas's third proof, he | distiguishes necessary from contingent being. |
St. Thomas's firth proof is | a teleological proof |
How does Hume argue against Thomas's firth proof? | By arguing from the imperfections of the world |
What does Kant call his assertion about God? | A postulate of practical reason |
Two attributes of God questioned by the problem of evil are | power and goodness |
An attempt to explain the presence of evil and suffering in the world is called | theodicy |
One traditional reply to the problem of evil is | to account for evil as a result of misuse of free will |
Augustine considers corruptible objects | of limited goodness |
According to Augustine, for god, | evil does not exist. |
In Augustine's view, if something is deprived of all good, | it becomes nonexistent |
How does Augustine account for the origin of evil? | from a misuse of free will |
Bayle contends that | free will is not a good gift |
Bayle likens God to all the following, except | a sea captain who allows a sailor to get drunk so he may punish him |
Bayle considers evil | a result of God's will |
In the except from Dostoyevsky, Ivan exemplifies unjust suffering by relating a story of | a child torn to pieces by a general's dogs |
Kierkegaard likens the motivation for accepting Christianity to | a leap of faith |
In Dostoyevsky's story of the Grand Inquisitor, whom does the Grand Inquisitor threaten to have burned at the stake? | Jesus |
Leibniz likens evil to | dark patches in a painting. |
Marx considers religion | a human invention |
Nietzche considers the New Testament as | a sing against the spirit |
Nietzche considers Christianity as | siding with the weak and base |
What does Nietzsche mean by "God is dead"? | The concept of the Christian God is not worthy of belief |
Freud considers religion as | wish fulfillment |
Freud argues that an illusion is derived from | human wishes |