Philosophy Final

Norman Malcolm...

(b) Norman Malcolm believed that necessary existence is a predicate of God.

Knowledge of God based on moral consciousness is...

(c) Knowledge of God based on moral consciousness is an a priori argument.

Statements that may be verified by rational cognition alone are...

Analytically true

What does Tabula Rasa mean?

Blank slate. Our minds are a blank slate when we are born

Why do Hume and Kant reject the cosmological Argument on the basis of their differing conceptions of causality

Both Hume and Kant believed that causality could not be extended beyond sense experience; therefore, it could not be extended to God. Hume believed that causality could only be known through the senses, while Kant contended that causality was constitutive of sense experience.

How did Charles Darwin figure in the discussion of this chapter?

Charles Darwin's theory of evolution was the first theory presented that took God out of the equation and gave a beginning to things without a creator.

What type of reasoning moves from the general to the specific?

Deductive

Statements that must be verified via sensory perception (experience) are...

Empirically true

Who said it? "I don't have any justification [for distinguishing good and bad] any more than I have when I distinguish between blue and yellow."

English professor, Bertrand Russell, said this quote.

Who was F.R. Tennant?

F.R. Tennant was a scientist before he became a theologian and philosopher. He wanted to prove God through science and be "empirically minded." He held a wide teleology approach and viewed design on the whole rather than on specific instances.

True or False: Theistic evolution is the belief that God created the world and then abandoned it to its own course.

False, Theistic evolution supposes that God created the world and used the process of natural evolution to bring about his design.

Knowledge of God by means of a special divine self-disclosure is called theology.

False, Theology is the study, knowledge and science of God.

Epistic model

Foundation, evidence, evidence...

How does Hastings Rashdall figure in this discussion?

Hastings Rashdall argued that the fact that there is moral law and humans have an idea of ethical judgments suggests there is a higher being on which that law came from.

What does it mean that Plato is a metaphysical dualist?

He believed in a "twoism" to the world: a physical and metaphysical realm

Who extolled "the starry heaven above me and the moral law within me"?

Immanuel Kant said this quote.

Reasoning that moves from the specific to the general?

Inductive

who popularized the term Tabula Rasa?

Locke

In what way are Descartes and Locke alike in terms of philosophical project and un-alike?

Locke was an empiracist, while Descartes was a rationalist. They both sought to find the absolute truth in the world and how the physical and metaphysical were connected. They differed in how people experienced the world and on what was ultimate reality.

Some claim there is scientific evidence for temporal beginnings. What is it?

Many claim that both the Big Bang theory and the Second Law of Thermodynamics point to a beginning of the universe.

What kind of dualism did Descartes' philosophy generate?

Mind-matter dualism.

What, exactly, is the difference between moral laws and moral law?

Moral laws are specific and relative views people devise while moral law is an absolute moral principal that is "imperfectly expressed through moral laws" (Miller & Jenson, p. 307).

Paley claimed that_____ is to the ______ as a______ is to a ______.

Paley claimed that God is to the eye as a watchmaker is to the watch. This proof was meant to argue for the existence of God.

How is Aristotle's theory of forms different from Platos

Plato: Perfect copies of forms. Aristotle: we know the perfect from dealing with the imperfect.

Plausibility structure

Principle, which leads to other premises following and building upon each other

What does it mean to adduce warrant of belief

The belief is warranted in holding a conclusion. That is, the facts may not be 100% provable but they are true enough for the conclusion to be true

List and describe Aristotle's four categories of causation

The material cause: "that out of which", e.g., the bronze of a statue. The formal cause: "the form", "the account of what-it-is-to-be", e.g., the shape of a statue. The efficient cause: "the primary source of the change or rest", e.g., the artisan, the art of bronze-casting the statue, the man who gives advice, the father of the child. The final cause: "the end, that for the sake of which a thing is done", e.g., health is the end of walking, losing weight, purging, drugs, and surgical tools.

St Thomas Five ways are all...

Thomas Aquinas' five ways were all present in Summa Theologiae (b) and all begin in an a posteriori manner (a).

True or False: St. Thomas' argument for God presupposes a temporal beginning of the universe.

True, Aquinas believed that the universe had a temporal beginning and that God caused it. Although, he did not always argue from that perspective.

True or false: St. Anselm's and Descartes versions of the Ontological Argument construe existence as a predicate or attribute of God.

True, both Anselm and Descartes argue that existence is an attribute of God.

True or false: "A vast herd of giraffes is at the moment roaming through the White House" is a logically consistent claim.

True, though it may not be true, it is a logically consistent claim.

Paley was a proponent of...

William Paley was a proponent of the older views, which are narrow teleology and did not include evolution.

2. Which of the following is most relevant for Kant's theory of morality...

a. (c) Kant believed that morality was decided upon one's duty.

9. According to Mill, which of the following are relevant for the determination of moral act? (a) number of people involved, (b) production of happiness, (c) quality of pleasure involved, (d) external sanctions.

a. According to Mill, the number of people involved was a determination of a moral act.

2. Benevolence Principle+ Hedonism=?

a. Benevolence Principle+ Hedonism= social hedonism or utilitarianism

3. True of False: St. Thomas believed that natural law is the highest type of law.

a. False, Eternal Law was the highest order of law.

. True or False: Alvin Plantinga believes that God could make a world in which everyone would always freely choose the good.

a. False, He believes that the idea that God could create a world without evil is impossible.

6. True or False: Nozick proposes no principle aimed at the rectification of injustice.

a. False, he does support principles aimed at the rectification of injustice.

1. True or False: Kant's is a teleological ethics.

a. False; Kant held that morality was decided upon what one ought to do not the outcomes.

5. Why is Kant's basic principal of morality called the "Categorical Imperative?"

a. For Kant, the word "categorical" represents acting because an action is right, not because of the end result. An imperative is a command, therefore, it is the command to do what is right based off duty.

6. Gabriel Marcel was (a) a modern proponent of ethical relativism, (b) a critic of Sartre's idea of freedom, (c) an emotivist, (d) a critic of determinism.

a. Gabriel Marcel was (a) a major challenger or critique to Sartre's views. He argued that values are discovered, given and objective.

8. What was G.E. Moore's objection to utilitarianism?

a. He argued that the definition of desirable, is not "able to be desired" as "visible," which is the case that Mill presents.

5. Albert Camus taught that in the face of evil one ought to...

a. He taught that one ought to (b) revolt against it.

9. What would St. Augustine reply to the charge that his denial of evil as a substance renders evil unreal?

a. He would claim that this argument is not about the reality of evil but rather about the nature of evil.

2. In three words, Nozick's is a theory of "justice as ________."

a. His theory can be summed up as Justice as Entitlement.

7. St Augustine's theory of evils as the absence of goodness is based on ______'s metaphysics?

a. His theory is based on Plato's metaphysics.

3. MacIntyre's theory of justice has most in common with (a) Locke, (b) Marx, (c) Aristotle, (d) the libertarians

a. His theory is most in line with Aristotle.

3. What did David Hume contribute to the discussion of free will versus determinism?

a. Hume argues that one's choice or action is determined by one's character.

7. Why is determinism a challenge to traditional morality?

a. If the view that determinism hold is true, that all things are causally determined, then free will is denied and morality comes to an end.

6. How did the ancient Christian writer Irenaeus figure in the discussion in this chapter?

a. Irenaeus argues that evil is a form of "soul-making," by which people grow into the people they are supposed to be. Evil is the way in which God make humans who they are intended to be.

3. Who formulated the sevenfold hedonic calculus in order to measure the quantity of pleasure?

a. Jeremy Bentham created hedonic calculus.

5. Who said it? "If the game of push-pin furnish more pleasure, it is more valuable."

a. Jeremy Bentham said this quote, denying that "higher pleasures" are more valuable.

8. What thinkers in this chapter champion a social contract as providing security and social rights?

a. MacIntyre and Okin both are proponents of a social contract

7. What is meant by the claim that MacIntyre's is a more "wholistic" conception of justice than Rawl or Nozick?

a. MacIntyre focuses more on the community than the individual. It is less compartmentalized than the other two's theories.

Why, according to some philosophers, is a perfect world logically impossible?

a. Many believe that, for there to be any perfection or good in the world, there needs to be a non-good or non-perfection to show that there is good or perfection.

4. According to Mill, what is the proof that anything is desirable?

a. Mill believes that something is desirable if a majority of people desire it.

Mill solved the problem of evil simply by denying that God is___.

a. Mill contended that God was limited.

4. How might it be claimed that Aristotle's doctrine of natural law is part and parcel of his metaphysics?

a. Natural law was part of Aristotle's metaphysical views. These views held that metaphysics were fixed and objective essences that defined the lawfulness of things.

4. Characterize the general philosophical outlook of Simone de Beauvoir.

a. Simone de Beauvoir was one of the founding members of the feminist movement. For her, people are free only when they can exercise their freedom and reach out for more. Since women were not given as much freedom as men, they were unable to justify their existence in a sense.

4. Why do some object to Rawl's theory of "veil of ignorance?"

a. Some claim that his theory of the veil of ignorance is hypocritical since people cannot change the situation they find themselves, i.e. wealthy, popular, pretty etc.

2. In what way is ethical relativism said to "backfire"?

a. Some say that this argument backfires as it often says one thing, but does the other. No one truly lives

Who is the source of the following? "...so long as being is in the process of corruption, there is in it some good of which is being deprived."

a. St. Augustine said this quote.

5. Who said it? "... the natural is nothing else than the rational creature's participation of the eternal law."

a. St. Thomas Aquinas said this quote.

8. What has Camus' novel The Plague to do with the problem of evil?

a. The Plague was an allegory about evil in the world. One character in the story represents the defiance one must take to God and evil in the world.

What is the big argument for ethical relativism?

a. The argument is that ethical views, morality, opinions etc. are conditioned by circumstances. In addition, ethical relativists do not take the difference held among the different views on morality seriously.

6. The big difference between Bentham's and Mill's version of utilitarianism concerns _________ vs. __________.

a. The big difference between Bentham's and Mill's version of utilitarianism concerns quality vs. quantity.

What is the difference between how morality is decided with the teleological argument and deontological argument?

a. The difference is the teleological believe the results decide morality while with the deontological the action itself decides morality.

1. What does Aristotle say is the function of human beings?

a. The function of human being's is to use reason to live a good life.

4. For Kant, the only truly good thing is a...

a. The only truly good thing is a good will.

8. What is the meaning of Sartre's statement that "man is condemned to be free"?

a. The word "free" in Sartre's statement means to "be unconditioned by any moral law or eternal values." Thus, when considered in this context his statement means that man can never escape being conditioned by moral law and eternal values

3. What do empirical factors have to do with Kant's views?

a. These things are all in flux and in his mind, accidental. Thus, they cannot be depended upon for judging morality.

5. Rawl's idea of original position has most in common with... .

a. This idea is most in line with Locke.

6. A moral proposition of the form: if you want X, Then you should do Y" is called a _______ imperative. Why?

a. This type of proposition is called a hypothetical imperative because it presents a scenario in which the ends justify the means. That is, an action is completed in order to attain the end results.

2. Courage is a mean between what two vices?

a. To have courage is to be between fear, which is cowardice, and foolishness, which is an excess of boldness.

5. Recalling the discussion of B.F. Skinner in Chapter 7, is the following true or false? Hard-behaviorist are also hard-determinists.

a. True, he believed there were overlapping themes to both.

1. True or False: Rawl's first theory of justice is intended to promote egalitarianism?

a. True, he is intending to promote a libertarian position that could coincide with egalitarianism.

10. True or False: John Hicks advocates both the therapy theory of evil and the Free-Will Defense.

a. True; Hicks argued both for the free will defense and the therapy of evil

7. True or False: the categorical imperative isn't concerned with what you do but how you do something.

a. True; the categorical imperative is focused on how something is done rather than what is done specifically.

7. Exactly why is utilitarianism, as well as the hedonisms discussed in the previous chapter, a naturalistic ethics?

a. Utilitarianism is naturalistic because it focuses on the natural desires of human beings.

8. How is a categorical imperative a test for moral actions?

a. When deciding upon an action, the one person seeking the moral judgment must ask: "Does the universalizing of thee principle of my actions result in a contradiction?" (p. 458).