Early Modern Philosophy Final Exam, Dr. Banchetti

Early Modern Philosophy assumptions of mind?

Mind as passive recipient of information (internal) mind is more subjective.

John Locke's Perception

Mind is active, complex ideas, compounded ideas of the qualities of the object, concrete idea

According to Descartes, what constitutes an essential distinction between mind and matter

Mind is indivisible but matter is divisible The essence of mind is thought and the essence of matter is extension The existence of mind is indubitable and the existence of matter is dubitable

Leibniz Dispositional Knowledge

Propensity/Disposition to know something. Becomes actual knowledge w/appropriate stimulus/experience. Able to understand causal truths. Truths of Facts

John Locke's sensible qualities

Power in an object to affect the senses and the mind in a particular way ex. yellow, hot, cold

Which set of qualities, defined by Locke, are observable, belong inherently to the object being perceived, are perceived?

Primary qualities

According to Hume, all reasoning concerning 'matters of fact' is ultimately based upon

Principles of cause and effect

Which of the following claims does David Hume include in his critique of causality?

There is nothing in the first event 'A' that entails that any particular event 'B' must follow it

Does it matter whether the postulates derived by his method conform with observation, sensory perception, or reliable experience?

Yes

According to Berkeley, what is the substratum upon which all qualities reside?

Mind

According to Locke, the ideas that the Rationalists called "innate" are in fact

Do not exist

Spinoza's freedom of God

God is relatively free because god is free to act within gods nature

Those propositions that have meaningful content cannot be known to be true for Hume

Matters of Fact

According to Locke, what are the ideas that are immediately imprinted in the mind in through sensation?

Simple Ideas

According to Hume, ideas that directly correspond to experienced objects are

Simple ideas

According to Locke, what are the ideas that are immediately imprinted in the mind through sensation?

Simple ideas

Spinoza necessatiatism untimely leads him to claim that?

matter and mind can't be considered substances

How does Leibniz attempt to explain the apparent harmony between monads?

At creation, God pre-establised the harmony between monads

Of the following empiricist, who is the one most influenced by Cartesian rationalism?

) John Locke

How is Spinoza's ethics to be evaluated?

Axiomatic system, check conclusions from our own experiences. Not a strict priori in it's evaluation

Leibniz Contingent Truths

"truths of fact" , empirical/observation required. Can't confirm it simply by its meaning. There is no tautology, research is required. Most humans know this truth

According to Hume, one must accept nominalism because

(a) A term has meaning only if there is an impression or combinations or impressions of which it is a copy (b) He wishes to adopt a strictly empirical criterion of meaning (c) No 'real' universals exist --All of the above

What claim does David Hume include in his critique of causality?

(a) There is nothing in the first event 'A' that entails that any particular event 'B' must follow it

Berkeley concludes that there is no distinction between appearance and reality because he claims that:

(a) What is real = Ideas (b) What we immediately perceive is what is real (c) What is real is what is perceivable (d) All of the above

According to Locke, what are the ideas that are strictly produced by mental reflection?

(d) Abstract idea

Conatus when manifested in the mind is

Desire

Present Hume's Argument for his Skeptical conclusion

1.) All knowledge of matters of fact is based on sense experience 2.) The reliable operation of senses depends on cause and effect 3.) We have no knowledge of cause and effect 4.) Therefore, we have no knowledge of matters of fact

Abstract complex idea

A priori, do not come from sense experience. Created by the mind through reflected abstraction

Deism

A transcendent god created the universe, set it into motion, and no longer interacts with it. "absentee landlord"

According to Locke, ideas regarding substances, modes and relations are:

Abstract Ideas

What is the name given by Locke to those ideas that represent concepts that are not experienced?

Abstract ideas

What is the name given by Descartes to those ideas that come from sensory experience

Adventitious Ideas

What are the arguments for Berkley's argument 'to be is to be perceived'

All that exists is perceivable (b) All that is perceivable is an idea (c) Ideas are perceived

Conatus is manifested in the body is

Appetite

John Locke's 'Modes'

Are ideas of the ways in which substances are organized or arranged. Do not subsist by themselves.

Descartes's innate ideas

Are placed there by god and at birth our minds are populated with a numbly basic, fundamental self-evident truths

(a) There is no distinction between primary and secondary qualities (b) So-called primary qualities are relative (c) So-called primary qualities are mind-dependent, Which philosopher?

Berkeley

Who believes that The distinction between things and ideas leads to skepticism?

Berkeley

Berkeley motivation immaterialism

Berkeley thinks that materialism is anti-religious. it implies the existence of something independent of god, and so implicitly denies that god is the creator.

What was Blaise Pascal's criticism of Cartesian method?

Cartesian doubt is merely methodological doubt.

What is the name give by Locke to those ideas that are constructed by reason out of the raw sensory data of sensation and that acct. for the perception of objects?

Complex Ideas

According to Locke, what are the ideas that are constructed by the mind from the given data of sensation?

Complex ideas

Berkeley's definition of material substance

Complex of experienced qualities. The object is the totality of its qualities

According to Locke, what are the ideas that represent the objects of perception

Concrete Ideas

Complex Idea , Hume

Counterparts not directly experienced. Components/Impressions have been directly experienced. Ex. Gold mountain Compounding, expanding, G0D = compounded ideas of perfection

All real knowledge for John Locke

Demonstrative (highest type) or intuitive. Only math and philosophy can we know for certain; genuine knowledge. Real knowledge requires certainty

According to Locke, which is the highest degree of cognitive adequacy?

Demonstrative Knowledge

Early modern philosophy assumed knowledge was? (for rationalists and empircist)

Demonstrative. Justified true belief; propositional attitude. Deductive demonstration; proof

Objective Reality

Dependent upon thought, "idea", less real, less perfect

When applying his method, which does Descartes doubt first

Empirical propositions, propositions based on sensory perception

Which of the following is Hume's most important concern?

Establishing theoretical and philosophical skepticism

In Spinoza's argument for substance monism

Existence is treated as an attribute of substance Necessities entails that all attributes be inseparably linked Existence can only be attributed to one substance

According to Hume, the belief in causality originates in

Experience

John Locke's experience vs. reflection

Experience = Sensation (posteriori) + The minds ordering process ( a priori)

According to Descartes, which ideas are derived as arriving from the self-i.e. originating in imagination

Factitious Ideas

Ideas

Faint images. A memory. Derived from thought. Thought originated in 1 impression/sensation

According to Descartes, the only judgement that is self-evidently true is that god exists? T/F

False

According to Hume, the use of induction is philosophically justified because induction has been relatively successful in the past.

False

Because Locke is an empiricist, he believes that certain and complete knowledge derives entirely from sensory experience. T/F

False

Because Spinoza is a rationalist he believes reason and deduction represent the highest level of cognition. T/F

False

Because empirical observation or experience can be misleading and because Spinoza's assumptions are suppose d to be invited as self-evident, the conclusions reached and need not be supported by experience. T/F

False

Berkeley concludes that the same argument that he has made regarding material substance can also effectively be made regarding spiritual substance. T/F

False

Berkeley disagrees with the claim that both primary and secondary qualities are relative. T/F

False

Berkeley's position on secondary quality realism is in direct conflict with that of Locke. T/F

False

Given his equation of the things with ideas, Berkeley concludes that there is no way to distinguish reality from dreams. T/F

False

Leibniz, unlike Descartes and Spinoza, was totally committed to a completely and dogmatically a priortistic view of human knowledge. T/F

False

Locke provides a conclusive argument to prove that innate ideas does not exist.T/F

False

Locke's conception of material substance as an unperceivable substratum was unique to him and was not shared by other early modern philosophers and scientists. T/F

False

The only idea that is self-evidently true is that god exists. T/F

False

The reason why Euclid's elements and Spinoza's Ethics can be evaluated axiomatically is that most his subject requires that arbitrary definitions be extended and follow a strictly deductive method. T/F

False

According to scholastic metaphysics, those realities that are independent of one another are called

Formal Realities

Which rationalist philosopher distinguishes "truths of reason" and "truths of fact"

G.W.Leibniz

Relations of Ideas, Hume

Geometry, Algebra, and Arithmetic; and in short, every affirmation which is either intuitively or demonstratively certain. That the square of the hypothenuse is equal to the square of the two sides, is a proposition which expresses a relation between these figures. That three times five is equal to the half of thirty, expresses a relation between these numbers. Propositions of this kind are discoverable by the mere operation of thought, without dependence on what is anywhere existent in the universe. Though there never were a circle or triangle in nature, the truths demonstrated by Euclid would for ever retain their certainty and evidence.

According to Locke, the ideas "stocking the human mind" derive from simple ideas that are

Given in sensation and reflection

Once Descartes uncovered the one indubitable truth, he seems to break out of the enclosed realm of his subjective consciousness, the most and most important idea of which he becomes aware and which his aim him in breaking out of his solipsism is the idea of

God

How does Leibniz attempt to explain the apparent harmony between mind and matter?

God has pre-establised, at creation, the harmony between mind and matter

How does Berkeley explain the continued existence of the world, even if there were no human mind to perceive things?

God is always aware of the world

Spinoza's freedom of God

God is relatively free because god is free to act in accordance with its nature

Which of the following is true of Hume concerning Locke

He abandons Locke's distinction between ideas of sensation and ideas of reflection

As a result of the Method, In the Meditations 1, Descartes claims that he has established the existence of at least one thing

His own thinking self

Which of the following qualifies Berkeley as an empiricist?

His professed denial of anything beyond what is directly given in experience

What philosopher said "We have no knowledge, can be a square and a circle but what is a square or a circle?"

Hume

In Descartes, causal proof for God's existence which is the premise that is based on the principle of adequate reality

I cannot be the cause of the idea of God

Despite their differences Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz all embrace?

Ideal rationalism

Early Modern Philosophy assumptions of perception?

Ideas are appearances. The image goes through the CNS and is translated into a subjective experience

John Locke's 'Relations'

Ideas of how substances are related to one another ex. "larger than" "smarter than." Do not subsist by themselves

John Locke's 'substance'

Ideas of self-subsisting thing. Material thing, the mind

According to Rationalists, innate ideas are?

Ideas that are within us at birth

Impressions

Immediately derived from sensation. Directly perceived. Vivid and lively. 1 = sensation 2= Reflection

For Hume, when we inspect our consciousness, we find only:

Impressions and ideas

Demonstrative Knowledge

Indirect, deductive inferential process to arrive @ the connection between ideas. Is used for the existence of God, but other than God, we have no knowledge except such as is derived from and limited by the senses.

According to the empiricist, what are the building blocks of knowledge?

Initial ideas imprinted through sensory experience

Intuitive Knowledge

Insight, direct intellectual cognition to the connection between ideas. Experience directly "intuits" identity and diversity.

For Spinoza which is the highest level of cognition?

Intuitive knowledge

According to Berkeley, the mind's power to frame abstract ideas?

Is a fiction created by the tendency to focus on language instead of focusing on things

Methodological Rationalism

It is possible to develop a methodology that conforms to the ideas of axiomatization of the all knowledge

Ideal Rationalism

It is possible, theoretically and in principle, to axiomatize all knowledge. Certain foundations-Deduce-all knowledge

According to Berkeley, what must be said regarding the notion of 'matter'?

It should be dropped from the philosophical vocabulary because it is vacuous

What is Locke's conception of material substance ('matter')?

Matter is the unperceivable substratum 'layer beneath' upon which the qualities reside

Problem with knowledge in early modern philosophy?

Knowledge as mediated by ideas

According to Berkeley, the argument for immaterialism:

Leaves the world exactly as it finds it

According to Berkeley, the argument for immaterialism?

Leaves the world exactly as it finds it

According to Locke, which discipline does produce genuine knowledge?

Mathematics and Speculative Philosophy

According to Descartes, which of the following constitutes an essential distinction between mind and matter

Mind is indivisible but matter is divisible The essence of mind is thought and the essence of matter is extension The existence of mind is indubitable and the existence of matter is dubitable

Can primary quality arise from from interactions between between inherent qualities and the observers mind, according to Locke?

NO

George Berkeley's view on qualities is called

Naive Realism

According to Locke, which discipline does not produce genuine knowledge?

Natural philosophy(i.e natural science)

Berkeley endorses primary or secondary quality realism?

Neither primary nor secondary quality realism

Is Spinoza's method strictly and rigidly a priori both in its structure and in its evaluation?

No

Leibniz Necessary Truths

Non-trivial, because we do gain knowledge. "truths of reason" Depend ENTIRELY on principle of non-contradiction. Tautologies. "All bachelors are unmarried" Analytical, a priori. Deriving from Logic

According to Hume, the belief in causality and the belief that the future will be like the past are,

Not philosophically justifiable they are psychological

According to scholastic metaphysics, those realities that are dependent on mind are called

Objective Realities

Those propositions that are self-evident in themselves regardless if human cognition recognizes them as such are

Objectively Self-Evident

Complex Idea

Perception, compounded ideas of the qualities of the object

Phenomenalism

Physical objects are nothing but collections of sense perceptions

After Descartes has applied his method of doubt and has arrived at the foundational self-evident truth that he was seeking, he must apply the principle of clearness and distinctions in order to reconstruct his system. What must he do, however, before he is allowed to use this principle?

Prove he is not being deceived

John Locke definition of knowledge

Recognition of the connection between ideas (agreement/disagreement)

Those propositions that we know to be true are empty of meaningful content (that is they don't tell us anything about the world) For Hume,

Relation of Ideas

Whatever knowledge we do have is trivial for Hume

Relations of Ideas

According to Hume, the belief in causality is based upon

Repeated experience of constant conjunction of events

Reflection as defined by Locke

Self-awareness; the knowledge that the mind has of itself and its operations

According to Locke, the ideas that serve as the fundamental building blocks/raw data of knowledge originate in?

Sensation

According to Hume, ideas that directly correspond to experienced objects are:

Simple Ideas

Leibniz on Innate Ideas

Simple ideas and principles ex. God. Empirical observation is required in order for reason to discover these ideas within itself. "Ideas serve as a stimulus"

It is difficult to achieve and one needs to understand and know God

Spinoza this is true of wisdom

Early Modern Philosophy assumption about truth?

Statements that are true are true because the statement/proposition corresponds to some objective fact

Those propositions that are recognized as being self-evident by human cognition are

Subjectively self-evident

Leibniz conception of substance

Substance is a self-enclosed unit of force

What is Leibniz conception of substance?

Substance is a self-enclosed unit of force

Leibniz Method of Combination

Synthetic method. Simple universal categories and principles to more complex and detailed concepts (truths).

According to Spinoza, substance is

That which is independent, all encompassing, unlimited, indestructible

According to Locke, experience furnishes the mind with?

The 'building blocks' of knowledge

The scholastic principle that there must be as much cause as there is in the effect

The Principle of adequate reality

How would Leibniz respond to Antoine Arnauld's question: "What happens to the substantial form of a block of marble when the block is split in two?

The block of marble is not a genuine substance and thus, we can not speak of it having substantial form

Spinoza's sense of 'cause', god is self-caused.

The cause is internal to god, it's essence is necessary to being. 'Cau sa sui' = whose very existence/nature involves existing

When Berkeley is claims that there objects are just sets of coexisting data, he is claiming that?

There is no material substratum with properties that give objects their identity and stability

Matters of fact, Hume

The contrary of every matter of fact is still possible; because it can never imply a contradiction, and is conceived by the mind with the same facility and distinctness, as if ever so conformable to reality. That the sun will not rise to-morrow is no less intelligible a proposition, and implies no more contradiction than the affirmation, that it will rise. We should in vain, therefore, attempt to demonstrate its falsehood. Were it demonstratively false, it would imply a contradiction, and could never be distinctly conceived by the mind.

According to Berkeley, the process of abstraction is responsible for?

The distinction between primary and secondary qualities

Atomism (modern)

The early modern theory which regards the fundamental material constituents of the universe as infinitely small, discrete, independent particles that are indestructible and that coalesce to form the material objects of the world

The cosmological view that lay at the foundation of the scientific revolution and was endorsed by many Modern philosophers is called

The mechanistic conception of the universe

Major development that influenced Locke when he wrote the ECHU

The new or mechanical philosophy

Locke is considered an empiricist because he believes that:

The original building blocks of knowledge originate in sensation

The scholastic principle that there must be a sufficient reason that accounts for 'something as being' or for why 'something isn't the case' is

The principle of sufficient reason

What does Spinoza mean by saying that "god is self-caused" ?

The reason for god's existence lies within god's nature

For John Locke, the 'tabula rasa' would define thinking and ideas as?

Thinking is the process Ideas are the materials

How does Locke justify his philosophical position on material substance?

Through a rationalistic (a priori) assumption

According to Berkeley, it is not possible to conceive of the the being of a thing separately from its being perceived? T/F

True

According to Hume, the belief in causality and the belief that the future will be like the past are psychologically justified but not philosophically justified.

True

According to Hume, there is no direct or exact correspondence between impressions and complex ideas. T/F

True

According to Locke, a secondary quality is the power in an object to produce a corresponding sensation in us, such as the sensation of color, taste, odor, etc.. T/F

True

According to Locke, primary qualities are objective determinations of the state of extended solid substances, such as size, shape, motion/rest. T/F

True

According to one criticism of the Cartesian philosophy, Descartes offers no convincing acct of how mind (thinking substance) can interact with matter (extended substance), w/o violating the laws of physics? T/F?

True

For Hume, the belief in causality is the result in 'custom and habit', rather than derived from any experience of causality.

True

Hume's radicalization of empiricism accounts for his philosophical skepticism. T/F

True

Locke believes that the mind has innate, in the sense natural, capacities that are involved in the attainment of knowledge, although these capacities do not by themselves give rise to knowledge. T/F

True

Locke's view on qualities is referred to as primary quality realism.T/F

True

The cosmological conception of the universe that began to dominate, among philosophers and scientists in early modern Europe, is called the mechanistic theory of the universe? T/F

True

The distinction made by Spinoza of subjective self- evident and objective self-evident supports his contention that the Ethics is to be evaluated as a whole rather than axiomatically

True

The distinction, made by Spinoza, between objective self-evidence and subjective self-evidence supports his contention that the Ethics is to be evaluated as a whole, rather than axiomatically. T/F

True

The strict definition of substance used by Spinoza ultimately leads him to cling that matter and mind cannot be considered substances. T/F

True

According to one criticism of the Cartesian philosophy, Descartes offers no convincing acct. about how mind can interact with matter without violating the Laws of Physics T/F

True, Called the problem of interaction

According to Descartes, the diversity of opinion among people is not due to a difference in their reasoning and faculty but to a difference in how those faculties are employed and what methods are used. T/F

True, he believes you are all capable

According to Descartes, the diversity of opinion among people is not due to a difference in their reasoning and faculty but to a difference in how those faculties are employed and what methods are used. T/F

True, we are all capable

Immediately seeing, or intellectually grasping the ratio of things. Is an example of the highest level of cognition for Spinoza?

True;Intuitive Knowledge

Leibniz Virtual (implicit) Knowledge

Truths that are known implicitly, not explicitly, by all human beings. Principle on non-contradiction. Everyone can recognize a contradiction. Truths of Reason

With regards to mind thought and matter, Spinoza is said to be a dualist in what way

Two separate attributes of mind and matter thought and extension

With regards to mind thought and matter, Spinoza is said to be a dualist in what way

Two separate attributes of mind and matter; thought and extension

According to Hume, one must accept nominalism because

a) A term has meaning only if there is an impression or combinations or impressions of which it is a copy b) He wishes to adopt a strictly empirical criterion of meaning c) No 'real' universals exist

In Spinoza's argument for substance monism

a) Existence is treated as an attribute of substance b) Necessities entails that all attributes be inseparably linked c) Existence can only be attributed to one substance

How does Berkeley claim to have reconciled the perspective of the philosopher with the perspective of the 'common man'?

a) The 'common man' believes that everything that exists is perceivable b) The philosopher believes that what we directly perceive are ideas -- a and b are correct

characteristic of primary qualities, according to Locke?

a) They are observable (b) They belong inherently to the object being perceived (c) They are objective

According to Galileo, what are characteristics of objective properties?

a) They can be described in mathematical terms b) They are real properties c) They can be quantified --All the above

In ECHU, Locke attacks the innatist view that the mind at birth is inscribes with

a) innate principles that function as the foundations of all knowledge(e.g. principle of identity, principle of contradiction, etc.) b) innate principle of right (or moral) conduct c) innate ideas(e.g. idea of God, idea of substance etc...) --All of the above answers are correct

According to Locke, what is the nature of material substance?

a) it is unperceivable in itself b) it is the metaphysical 'glue' that holds qualities together c) it serves to maintain the identity of the object as the object's qualities change --All the above

3 claims Locke makes in his attack against the 'innatist' view

a) no universal assent to so-called first principles of knowledge b) empires explanations for the first principles of knowledge are more economical than the 'innateness" hypothesis c) To say that an idea is 'in the mind' is simply to say that the idea is being perceived or thought about by the mind --All the above

What are the problems with Descartes's causal proof of God's existence?

a) the argument is circular b) the argument depends on the unjustified causal maxim that 'there must be as much reality in the cause as in the effect' c) the argument depends on an unjustified distinction between formal and objective reality ---All the above

What are the elements of Berkeley's primary quality realism argument?

a) there is no distinction between primary and secondary qualities b) primary qualities are relative qualities c) primary qualities are mind dependent --All the above

Characteristics of Monads according to Leibniz

active, self-contained, Unextended, unit of dynamic force

Hume's nominalistic view

as the succession and patio-temporral contiguity of cause and effect suggests no new idea. Copy of impressions. No universals exist

Strict definition of Spinoza substance ultimately leads him to claim that matter and mind cannot be considered substance, they are?

attributes of substance

What distinction does Hume abandon from Locke?

b) He abandons Locke's distinction between ideas of sensation and ideas of reflection

Descartes's theory of Substance

believes that there is only one primary substance but two secondary substances

How does Berkeley solve conflict between science and religion?

by denying the independent existence of matter. Science could not possibly oppose religion unless it claimed to describe a realm of things existing independently of god.

God is relatively free b/c god ?

can act in accordance to his nature

What sense of 'cause' is Spinoza using when he claims that 'God is self-caused'?

causa si, whose nature can't be conceived as not existing

According to Hume, all reasoning concerning 'matters of fact' is ultimately based upon

d) The principle of cause and effect

Formal Reality

exists independently of thought, more real, more perfect

Spinoza good and bad are

human conceptions, not objective, and are related to pleasure/pain as to which we like/dislike

What is a matter of fact?

it can be defined as a statement whose negation is not self -contradictor; always has a degree of uncertainty.

Galileo subjective qualities (secondary qualities)

not quantifiable, measurable, purely qualitative, subjective, as experienced, color, sound, smell

Concrete Idea

of a whole object endowed with various properties (latter part of complex idea)

John Locke's 'Sensation'

original ideas, singular, uncompounded, data, mind passively receives these. Necessary condition for perception and experience

Conatus it is derived in every being to

preserve itself

For Hume, where are all simple ideas derived from?

simple impressions or their copies

Idealism

the only thing that exists are the mind and ideas inside of it

Immaterialism

there is no such thing as material objects

What constitutes ultimate happiness for Spinoza?

understanding god and detaching oneself from desires