Philosophy 251: 500, exam 1
35. The philosophic insistence on providing a logos for the world and our experience of it might itself rely ultimately on adopting a certain mythos, insofar as: (a) philosophy assumes that it is possible and meaningful to reason about the world and experience. (b) the myths of philosophy are really lies that are told to make so-called philosophic enquiries sound more respectable. (c) philosophy is based on logic, whereas myths are not based on logic. (d) mythos refers to the philosophic understanding of the world, whereas logos refers to the philosophic understanding of our experience of the world.
A
39. To say that "philosophy" (like "love" or "art") is not a closed concept means that we cannot state the necessary and sufficient conditions by which it is defined. Rather, philosophic issues are identifiable as having "family resemblances" with one another. In other words: (a) there is no one distinguishing feature that identifies an issue as philosophic, only an overlapping of issues roughly associated with one another. (b) the way we come to think about philosophy, love, or art really depends on how we were raised by our families to identify things as resembling one another. (c) the necessary and sufficient condition for something to be considered philosophic is that it answers either of these questions: What does it mean? and How do you know? (d) philosophy is not a closed discipline insofar as it is willing to accept any answer suggested by the "human family" as being true.
A
45. According to Socrates, the value or quality of one's life depends on understanding the principles of, or basic rationale for human existence. Without such knowledge (he suggests) life lacks virtue, because: (a) acting virtuously means acting in way that is informed about what one is doing and why. (b) someone who does not understand existence philosophically could never do anything right. (c) to have the power or ability to do anything at all requires that we know what we are doing. (d) not only is virtue knowledge but also the unexamined life is not worth living.
A
45. In order for me to know that birds fly, it must be true that birds do fly, because: (a) if it were not the case that birds fly, then I would know that which is not true; in short, I would know no thing: I would not know. (b) whenever I claim to know something, I have to rely on what I have been taught. (c) if it is true that birds fly (as it, in fact, is), then I cannot be mislead into thinking otherwise. (d) unless I have seen birds fly I will not believe others when they tell me that birds do, in fact, fly.
A
50. Socrates claims that no one knowingly wills to do evil. Immorality, he says, is due to ignorance about what is in our own best interest. In response to this, critics such as Aristotle point out that Socrates overlooks the fact that: (a) simply knowing what is good is often insufficient to overcome irrational or evil desires. (b) doing what is good is often its own reward, regardless of whether it promotes our interests. (c) to will to do evil, we have to know what evil is; but since evil cannot be known, we cannot will it. (d) knowing the good is impossible, and thus no one can knowingly will to do either good or evil.
A
A solipsist is someone who doubts whether anything else exists other than his or her own mind.
A
According to Descartes, knowledge is justified only if it is based on an undoubtable principle or belief.
A
According to Descartes, the criteria or principles for determining whether a claim is true are clarity and distinctness.
A
According to Descartes, we cannot say that we know things about the world based on sense experience because we can be deceived by our senses or might simply be dreaming.
A
According to Plato, the Form of the Good is the ultimate cause or rationale for every meaningful or intelligible thing.
A
According to Socrates, a person who does not know why an act is good occasionally might act virtuously, but such occasions of accidentally "getting it right" cannot constitute a virtuous or worthwhile life.
A
According to Socrates, we cannot experience a good life without knowing what it means to be human and what it means to act virtuously.
A
An a posteriori statement is one whose truth/falsity is known without having to appeal to experience.
A
By giving us a sense of purpose and moral value, myth indicates our place in nature and explains in general why things are the way they are.
A
By means of his wax example Descartes wants to show how our ideas of substance and identity are not based on sense experience.
A
Descartes uses the methodic doubt to show that there is at least one thing that can be known with absolute certainty, namely, that he exists.
A
Even though a posteriori propositions can sometimes be universal, they are never necessary (that is, they are always contingent).
A
Even though only true propositions can be known, it is possible to believe a proposition that is false.
A
For Plato, all knowledge (as opposed to opinion) is innate insofar as it is based on reasoning that cannot have been obtained through sense experience.
A
For presocratic thinkers like Thales and Anaximander, the primary focus of philosophy is the search for the fundamental stuff of the world in terms of which it can be understood.
A
In Plato's account, Meno's Paradox refers to the problem of explaining how someone can remember anything about the realm of the Forms after the shock of being born into this world.
A
In his account of the Divided Line, Plato says that objects of reason and understanding (e.g., mathematical objects and Forms) depend on objects of belief and imagination (e.g., sensible objects) to be known.
A
In order for the self to exist, Descartes argues, there must be an infinite being (God) in terms of which the self's knowledge of itself as a finite existence is intelligible.
A
In order to know that he exists, Descartes first has to prove that his bodily senses can be trusted when they reveal to him that he is behaving in a thinking manner.
A
In philosophy the purpose of rational self-examination is to develop arguments that correct or support beliefs in ways that could be persuasive even to people with different backgrounds.
A
In the Socratic method of enquiry, one asks questions aimed at discovering the nature, essence, or fundamental principles of the topic under consideration.
A
Myth provides the vocabulary and grammar in terms of which both philosophical questions and their answers are intelligible.
A
One of the primary aims of philosophy is to see how our beliefs compare with those of others who can and do raise objections against those beliefs.
A
Philosophy attempts to answer questions such as "Why do we exist?" by examining what it means to ask such questions and to evaluate whether proposed answers to such questions are justified.
A
Plato's rationalism is a foundationalist epistemology because it assumes that real knowledge is possible only if it is based on some certain, unchanging priniciples (which in Plato's case are the Forms).
A
Plato's theory of recollection is his way of explaining how we know perfect or ideal instances of things (e.g., what a perfect triangle is) even though we have never experienced such things with our senses.
A
Pre-Socratic philosophers (e.g., Thales, Anaximander) suggest that we can understand nature by identifying something constant beneath or behind the changing appearances revealed by our senses.
A
Socrates argues that "the unexamined life is not worth living," because without knowing how we should act (based on universal principles) we would not be able to live worthwhile lives.
A
The philosophic insistence on providing a logos for the world might itself rely ultimately on a certain mythos, because philosophy often assumes that it is possible to reason meaningfully about the world.
A
The point of Descartes' appeal to an evil genius (as opposed to his discussion of illusions and dreams) is to raise doubts about his knowledge of a priori propositions.
A
The point of the Socratic method is to determine the truth of a belief by means of dialectical exchange (questions and answers, hypothesis and counter-example).
A
To say that philosophy is a "second order" discipline means that it investigates the presuppositions, criteria, and methods assumed by other disciplines.
A
31. If the world that we individually perceive is limited to an internal perspective, then there is no way that we could determine whether our own perspective is useful, true, or valuable because: (a) we know whether our internal perspective is correct only by comparing it with an objective, external perspective (the "real" world). (b) whatever we appeal to in order to prove that our perspective is right itself would be part of the standard we use in evaluating that perspective. (c) scientific research that reveals facts about the world would cause us to challenge our perceptions in a dreamworld of our own making. (d) without limiting our perspective to an internal dreamworld, we cannot achieve any objective, external knowledge of the real world.
B
32. Philosophy is concerned primarily with identifying beliefs about human existence and evaluating arguments that support those beliefs. These activities can be summarized in two questions that drive philosophical investigations: (a) why should we bother? and what are the consequences of our believing one thing over another? (b) what do you mean? and how do you know? (c) who really believes X? and how can we explain differences in people's beliefs? (d) how do philosophers argue? and are their differences important?
B
33. A philosophical inquiry improves our critical thinking skills and problem solving abilities by: (a) indicating which issues or problems are considered most important in contemporary society. (b) clarifying what our concepts or words mean and evaluating the reasons we give for our beliefs. (c) providing final and specific answers to questions about the nature of human existence. (d) showing how each person's view about the clarification of concepts or evaluation of arguments is to be respected because they are equally valuable.
B
36. "There is no rationale for myth because it is through myth that reason itself is defined." This means that: (a) mythos is ultimately based on logos, just as myth is ultimately based on reasoning or thinking. (b) myth does not "explain" how things are related as much as it simply reveals them as related. (c) metaphysicians are justified in reasoning as they do because there is only one true answer about being. (d) myth and reason are the same: "myth" defines "reason," and "reason" defines "myth."
B
37. Whereas the social sciences (e.g., psychology, sociology, economics) ask questions about how people think and act, philosophy is the study of: (a) how people with different beliefs or backgrounds disagree with one another. (b) what beliefs mean and whether people with different beliefs are justified in having them. (c) the reasons why philosophic questions never have better or worse answers. (d) questions that can be answered better by appealing to scientific experiments.
B
38. Which of the following questions are epistemological rather than ontological or metaphysical questions? (a) How are real things and imaginary things different? What distinguishes reality from appearance? (b) What does it mean to know something? How is knowledge different from belief or opinion? (c) Are human beings free? Does God exist? Is there an afterlife? (d) How is the existence of an individual thing different from the existence of the totality of all things?
B
44. In spite of the fact that Socrates claims to be ignorant of the essence or nature of certain things like justice, he is wise insofar as he recognizes that without such knowledge actions are rationally unjustified. That is, his wisdom consists in his recognition not only that he is ignorant of such essences but also that: (a) justice, like knowledge, requires that we admit that we know nothing and never will. (b) he knows what he is supposed to be looking for--knowledge of the essences of things. (c) knowledge of the essences of things is impossible, because that would require that we know what we are looking for before we know what it is we are looking for. (d) his method of asking questions about essences is itself unjustified because he does not know why he engages in such a practice.
B
51. According to Socrates, the task of the wise and virtuous person is not simply to learn various examples of just or virtuous actions but to learn the essence of justice or virtue, because: (a) by knowing enough examples of justice or virtue, we will live a worthwhile life even if we do not know what makes them examples of justice or virtue. (b) knowledge of individual examples alone would not prepare someone for situations of justice or virtue to which the examples do not immediately apply. (c) what makes an action just or virtuous can be known only by asking people for their opinions and respecting each answer as equally valuable. (d) justice and virtue are universal goals of all human beings, even if people do not always agree on how to achieve those ends.
B
According to Descartes, no all-good God would permit us ever to make mistakes about what we claim to know about the world using our senses.
B
According to Descartes, since sense experience is sometimes deceiving, it cannot be the ultimate and indubitable (undoubtable) basis for knowledge.
B
According to Plato, our knowledge about things in the sensible world is not based on sense experience but on our a priori apprehension of the Forms.
B
According to Plato, the eternal Forms or Ideas are the universal characteristics by which things are what they are and are known as what they are.
B
According to Plato, to understand a thing means being able to conceive the thing in terms of the concept or logos by which it is intelligible.
B
An a priori statement is one whose truth/falsity is known without having to appeal to experience.
B
As the pursuit of wisdom, philosophy raises questions about almost everything except what it means to question in the first place.
B
Because Descartes knows of God only through his sense experience of the world, his argument that if he exists then God must exist is based on a posteriori propositions.
B
Because philosophy requires that we question our beliefs, it cannot provide reasons why one set of beliefs should be preferred over another.
B
Because rationalism does not rely on sense experience for knowledge, it is inappropriate to speak of a "rationalist epistemology."
B
Because rationalism does not rely on sense experience, it cannot account for how we know anything.
B
Because rationalism does not rely on sense experience, it cannot provide justified true beliefs (i.e., knowledge) about a priori propositions.
B
By assuming that knowledge is possible by reasoning alone, rationalists like Plato and Descartes conclude that the only things we ever know to exist are our minds and their ideas.
B
By means of his "methodic doubt," Descartes is able to show that there is one thing we can know with absolute certainty--namely, that we cannot know anything with certainty.
B
By saying that "virtue is knowledge," Socrates means that it is good to know as much as possible because knowledge is valuable in and of itself, even if it does not guide a person to act morally.
B
Descartes claims that when we know a physical object (e.g., wax) clearly and distinctly, we do not rely on our intellect or reason but rather think of the object solely by means of our senses.
B
Descartes' "methodic doubt" is intended to raise doubts about illusions, dreams, and occasionally sense experiences--but not about beliefs concerning the self, God, or one's own body.
B
Dualists (like Descartes) argue that human beings are composed of immaterial bodies and material souls or minds.
B
Epistemology does not consider skepticism as a legitimate theory because skepticism claims that we can never be completely justified in our beliefs.
B
Epistemology is the study of the origin, structure, and extent of reality.
B
Even though philosophy in general aims to clarify our ideas and evaluate reasons for our beliefs, some areas of philosophy (e.g., ethics, aesthetics) are based on the assumption that achieving such an aim is impossible.
B
In Plato's Allegory of the Cave, the figures that cast shadows on the back wall of the cave are supposed to be understood as the Forms in terms of which things outside of the Cave are intelligible.
B
Like philosophy, myth attempts to explain why things are the way they are by giving a rationale or logos for things in terms of events in nature.
B
Like science, law, and religion, philosophy aims to justify our personal beliefs and our society's practices.
B
Like the social sciences (e.g., psychology or sociology), philosophy discovers truths by identifying what people in fact believe instead of judging whether those beliefs are justified.
B
Philosophical questions are generally more concerned with identifying how beliefs differ among persons or cultures than with how those different beliefs can be justified.
B
Philosophical reflection often contradicts traditional beliefs about human existence because the aim of philosophy is to show how all beliefs, no matter how well justified, are false.
B
Philosophical skepticism claims that nothing exists.
B
Plato's Forms are copies of the things we experience in this world.
B
Socrates's comment that "the unexamined life is not worth living" is an example of his ironic technique of saying something that means just the opposite.
B
Socratic ignorance is the same as complete skepticism because Socrates admits he knows nothing, not even whether his method of enquiry is appropriate.
B
The methodic doubt by which Descartes hopes to achieve certainty and a foundation for claims of knowledge is, for him, both a real and reasonable doubt about the existence of things.
B
The point of Descartes' appeal to an evil genius (as opposed to his discussion of illusions and dreams) is to raise doubts about his knowledge of a posteriori propositions.
B
The point of Descartes' discussion of the evil genius (as opposed to his discussion of illusions and dreams) is to show that our faith in sense experience is unjustified.
B
Though philosophy is defined as the pursuit of wisdom, it does not investigate what it means to ask questions in the first place.
B
To say that philosophy encourages the adoption of a questioning attitude means that philosophic thinking encourages people to deny the existence of God or traditional moral beliefs.
B
To say that philosophy is more concerned with "second-order" or meta-level topics means that it is concerned more with facts and beliefs than with their presuppositions.
B
When I say I know something, I do not always have to believe what I claim to know.
B
29. "Is there anything you would be willing to die for?" is a philosophical question insofar as: (a) it does not have any right or wrong answer because it is a meaningless question. (b) it is a meaningless question because everyone could have a different answer to it. (c) it forces us to articulate and justify our beliefs about what we know and ought to do. (d) it is more concerned with one's religious beliefs than with factual claims about the world.
C
34. One of the tasks of philosophy is to test conceptual frameworks for depth and consistency. It does this through (1) expressing our ideas in clear, concise language and (2) supporting those ideas with reasons and with overcoming objections to them. Philosophy thus emphasizes the need to: (a) pose questions that can be resolved not by reasoning but only by faith or personal belief. (b) show why the beliefs adopted by most people in a culture are preferable since more people understand those beliefs and see no reason to raise objections to them. (c) articulate what we mean by our beliefs and to justify our beliefs by arguments. (d) develop a set of ideas about the nature of society (i.e., an ideology) that can be used to support a religious conceptual framework.
C
41. According to Socrates, an unexamined life is not worth living; and it certainly could not be a virtuous life. Why not? (a) Because if someone did not know how to act virtuously, he or she would still be considered virtuous by others who also did not know the principles for good living. (b) Because since Socrates was a philosopher, he of course thought that people who examined their lives philosophically were more virtuous than those who did not. (c) Because without knowing the rationale for why one should act in a particular way, one does not know whether actions are justified and ought to be repeated. (d) Because a virtuous life would be one in which someone does what the rest of the society says is right, and that means examining views other than one's own.
C
43. Socrates acknowledges that he does not know certain things (e.g., what justice is), but he claims to know the method by which he and others can learn those things. In this "Socratic method" we: (a) act as if we know the truth of a thing even though we acknowledge that we can never know it. (b) follow the instructions of the philosophers, for they are the only ones who have seen beyond the cave. (c) ask questions to discover the essence or defining characteristic of what makes a thing be what it is. (d) agree that there is a distinction between how things appear to us and the reality that is beyond us.
C
43. Which of the following IS NOT a necessary characteristic for saying that Mary knows that today is Monday? (a) It must be, in fact, true that today is Monday. (b) Mary must be able to give a reason or justification for thinking that today is Monday. (c) Mary could not have been tricked into thinking that today is any day other than Monday. (d) Mary must believe that today is Monday.
C
46. For Plato, ordinary sensible objects exist and are knowable as examples or instances of Ideas or "Forms" that do not exist in our ordinary sensible world. Forms do not exist in the sensible world because Forms: (a) are generalizations of our sensible experiences that depend on our imaginations when we are asked the right kinds of questions. (b) would not exist unless there were individual things in the sensible, experienced world by means of which the Forms could be known. (c) are not individual things but are rather the universal essences or natures by which individual things are what they are and are known. (d) are constantly changing and are thus useless in providing any knowledge about things in our ordinary sensible experience.
C
47. According to Socrates, it is important that we discover what makes a particular action (e.g., a merciful or just act) the kind of action that it is, because without such knowledge: (a) no one in society will ever do any action that really is merciful or just, only those actions that they think are merciful or just. (b) the primary purpose of human existence--which is to think and to know--is replaced by a focus on morality (acting and doing). (c) we can refer only to how people characterize actions without knowing why such actions should be characterized that way. (d) there would be no way to distinguish one kind of action (e.g., a merciful action) from another kind of action (e.g., a just action).
C
48. In Plato's idealism, the unchanging Ideas or "Forms" in terms of which sensible objects both exist and are known must transcend (that is, exist beyond) the changing realm of appearances; because if Forms changed, then: (a) the only things in the sensible world that we could ever experience would be concepts. (b) the sensible realm (in contrast to the intelligible realm) would consist only of copies of real things. (c) nothing in the experienced world could be or be identified as one determinate thing or another. (d) the sensible world would consist of unchanging Forms.
C
49. Socrates' claim that "the unexamined life is not worth living" is often cited as a central theme in the activities of people. By it, Socrates is typically understood to mean that: (a) it is sometimes simply not worth all the effort of examining life and its problems in great detail; sometimes it is better simply to "go with the flow." (b) while taking a reflective attitude toward life is interesting and even sometimes important, most of what makes life worth living is not worth examining. (c) simply doing whatever everyone else does without thinking about why we should do what we do can hardly be thought of as worthwhile, noble, or admirable. (d) it is a waste of time to sit around thinking about whether life is worth living; we should leave such reflection to talk-show hosts, political figures, and religious leaders.
C
30. One of the aims of philosophy is to think critically about whether there are good reasons for adopting our beliefs. Reasons are considered "good reasons" if they are consistent with everyday experience and: (a) are part of a set of religious, moral, or political beliefs that an individual feels deeply about. (b) are considered good by at least one culture, sub-culture, or individual. (c) cannot be interpreted in different ways by different people or cultures. (d) take into account objections, are acceptable to impartial third parties, and avoid undesirable consequences.
D
40. According to Socrates, just as there is a difference between what an ironic statement says and its true meaning, so also appearances differ from reality. Even though societies or individuals appear to differ about what is required for the good life, that in no way contradicts the fact that: (a) what is right or wrong, true or false varies from one culture to another. (b) appearances are the only real way we have for knowing reality. (c) the distinction of appearance and reality is the basis for the dialectical discovery of truth. (d) there are objective principles for thought and action that are required for the good life.
D
42. According to Socrates, "the unexamined life is not worth living" and "virtue is knowledge" because: (a) human existence is valuable precisely because everyone is interested in examining his or her life. (b) unless our society tells us what we should do, we will never be considered virtuous. (c) the excellence or value (aretê) of our lives consists in the extent to which we act virtuously. (d) without asking what makes life worthwhile, we cannot know how we ought to live.
D
44. To say that you know that there is life on other planets necessarily implies that you believe there is life on other planets, that you have reasons to back up your belief, and that: (a) life on other planets is perhaps vastly different from what we are used to. (b) you can trust your senses when you see extraterrestrial life forms. (c) you have experienced life on other planets personally. (d) there is, in fact, life on other planets.
D
47. According to Plato the Forms in terms of which all sensible objects exist and are known must exist apart from the sensible world because: (a) the only Forms that exist in the sensible world are abstractions (e.g., triangularity, justice) but not real things (e.g., mud, hair). (b) sensible objects (e.g., triangles drawn on the chalkboard) exist and are known only in terms of Forms that exist in a supersensible realm. (c) the sensible world is the world that "makes sense" of appearances, the world in terms of which Forms get their meaning. (d) we truly know something only in terms of its unchanging, perfect essence, and everything that appears to us in the sensible world changes or is imperfect.
D
48. For Socrates, the belief that "virtue is knowledge" is related to his claim that "the unexamined life is not worth living," because he believes that: (a) the unexamined life is one in which we live day to day without asking questions about who we are and why we are here in the first place. (b) the Delphic oracle identified Socrates as the wisest person on earth because he claimed to know nothing. (c) by questioning traditional beliefs, we learn to recognize how some answers seem to be more satisfactory than others. (d) the only way to be a good or worthwhile person is to know how human beings should behave based on universal norms or values.
D
49. In his discussion of the Divided Line, Plato says that, in contrast to mere belief or opinion, knowledge is a belief for which we give reasons or justifications by appealing: (a) to what our senses reveal to us about how things appear to us, not how they really are. (b) beyond the Forms to images of goodness, beauty, and truth obtained from particular objects. (c) to what we sincerely believe is true about the Forms based on our experiences in the world. (d) beyond sense experience to unchanging ideas (Forms) that are perceived as rationally ordered.
D
According to Socrates, in order to know how we ought to live, we have to determine whether our personal beliefs and the beliefs of our society are justified. We can make such a determination by: (a) asking as many people as possible what it is that they believe and following the majority opinion. (b) distinguishing between personal beliefs (e.g., religion) and societal beliefs (e.g., upbringing). (c) assuming that no belief can ever be justified because we never escape Socratic ignorance. (d) identifying the essential characteristics of being human and evaluating our beliefs based on them.
D
