Kant's Epistemology

T/F: "Noumenal reality" is Kant's term for phenomenal reality when we understand it.

False

T/F: According to Kant, the idea of cause is a regulative idea.

False

T/F: Amoral and immoral mean the same thing.

False

T/F: Kant argued that science alone could restore dignity to human beings.

False

T/F: Kant tried to follow Descartes' example and write in a simple style so that his work would be widely read.

False

T/F: Kant's philosophy is called "critical philosophy" because it attacks and criticizes other philosophies.

False

____________________ is an effort to assess the nature and limits of "pure reason" unadulterated by experience. a) Critical philosophy b) Transcendentalism c) Apriorism d) Rationalism

a) Critical philosophy

____________________ triggers the regulative ideas. a) Experience b) Reason c) Doubt d) Philosophy

a) Experience

The moral-nonmoral distinction is ____________________. a) descriptive b) prescriptive c) categorical d) subjunctive

a) descriptive

According to Kant, when a theory results in conclusions that are inconsistent with experience, ____________________. a) real-world evidence must outweigh theoretical consistency b) theoretical consistency must outweigh real-world evidence c) we must modify our experiences accordingly d) we should ignore the inconsistency and thus avoid frustration

a) real-world evidence must outweigh theoretical consistency

As presented in the Melchert text, Kant's "Copernican revolution" in philosophy a) suggests that objects do not exist independently of our minds b) means that the planets are illusions necessarily constructed by every rational mind c) puts the sun in the center of our mental universe d) none of the above

a) suggests that objects do not exist independently of our minds

____________________ is Kant's term for the world as we experience it. a) Noumenal reality b) Phenomenal reality c) Empirical reality d) Confusional reality

b) Phenomenal reality

Kant's critique of knowledge is ____________________. a) a validation of rationalism b) an analysis of how knowledge is possible c) a survey of true and false beliefs, arranged by topic d) a validation of Hume

b) an analysis of how knowledge is possible.

According to Kant, regulative ideas ____________________. a) are discovered scientifically b) are a special type of transcendental ideas c) govern moral choice d) are mere figments of philosophers' minds

b) are a special type of transcendental ideas

According to Kant, transcendental ideas ____________________. a) always involve contradiction b) bridge the gap between the phenomenal and noumenal worlds c) exist only on the noumenal level d) exist only on the phenomenal level

b) bridge the gap between the phenomenal and noumenal worlds

The moral-immoral distinction is ____________________. a) descriptive b) prescriptive c) categorical d) subjunctive

b) prescriptive

Kant rejected the supremacy of science over philosophy because ____________________. a) philosophy was more "scientific" than science b) science could only uncover mechanistic laws which had no place for God, freedom, or moral dignity c) science and philosophy must both be transcended by a religious leap of faith d) the supremacy of science was an irrational and illogical opinion.

b) science could only uncover mechanistic laws which had no place for God, freedom, or moral dignity.

There are ____________________ regulative ideas, according to Kant. a) two b) three c) four d) many

b) three

According to the Melchert text, the aim of Kant's critique of reason is a) to demonstrate that reason can only be passion's slave b) to reveal the a priori conditions of knowledge c) to show, contrary to Hume, that the scope of possible human knowledge is unlimited d) to show, contrary to Descartes, that human knowledge is not possible

b) to reveal the a priori conditions of knowledge

According to Kant, knowledge is formed by ____________________ and ____________________. a) phenomena; noumena b) tabulae rasae; esse percipi c) actual experience; faculties of judgment d) common sense; scientific method

c) actual experience; faculties of judgement

The nature of the Critique of Pure Reason required Kant to ____________________. a) write in everyday language so that the average citizen could understand it b) convert to Roman Catholicism c) coin new terms and give new meanings to old ones d) embark on a speaking tour to defend its claims

c) coin new terms and give new meanings to old ones

Which (if any) of the following is a regulative idea? a) truth b) goodness c) cosmos d) none of these

c) cosmos

Kantian formalism is the theory that knowledge ____________________. a) occurs when we least expect it b) comes directly from God, without the need for "informal" interpretation c) is the result of the interaction between the mind and sensation d) must be derived from formal experience of science

c) is the result of the interaction between the mind and sensation.

As presented in the Melchert text, Kant's image of the dove in flight is meant to show us that a) human ideas can take flight and soar to heights unlimited b) like the dove rising from the solid earth, human knowledge can leave behind the limits of human senses c) it is an illusion to think that ideas can reach beyond experience d) as the dove will eventually grow old and die, so will all human achievements disappear in dust

c) it is an illusion to think that ideas can reach beyond experience

Noumena are ____________________. a) the direct objects of experience b) things that are new to us c) things as they exist independently of us d) phenomena in mental form

c) things as they exist independently of us

As presented in the Melchert text, two marks of the a priori are a) simplicity and universality b) categoricity and possibility c) universality and necessity d) basicness and fundamentality

c) universality and necessity

T/F: According to Kant, experience alone cannot give us knowledge of the external world.

True

T/F: According to Kant, reason alone cannot give us knowledge of the external world.

True

T/F: According to Kant, the idea of self is a regulative idea.

True

T/F: According to Kant, we know God through reason, not experience.

True

T/F: Kant completed the "epistemological turn."

True

T/F: Kant's philosophical work began as a response to Hume's skepticism.

True

T/F: "Phenomenal reality" is Kant's term for the world as we experience it.

True

Kant understood that ____________________ must be refuted if Enlightenment faith in reason was to be justified. a) Descartes b) Locke c) Copernicus d) Hume

d) Hume

Synthetic a priori judgments, Kant tells us, are a) knowable only in virtue of experience b) true in virtue of the fact that their denials are contradictory c) the only way of knowing things in themselves d) a reflection of the structure of a rational mind

d) a reflection of the structure of a rational mind

According to Kantian formalism, knowledge ____________________. a) of the self is impossible b) of God is impossible c) is structured by biochemical laws d) is structured by categories

d) is structured by categories

According to Kant, Hume confused ____________________ with knowledge that is based on experience. a) knowledge that is superior to experience b) cause and effect c) a posteriori ideas d) knowledge that is triggered by experience

d) knowledge that is triggered by experience

According to Kant, pure reason synthesizes all of our psychological activities into a unity by positing the idea of ____________________. a) the id b) the personality c) mind d) self

d) self

According to Kant, scientific method ____________________. a) is based on the neutral, passive recording of observations b) cannot provide knowledge of the external world c) can uncover irrefutable laws of morality d) suggests that knowledge is a kind of interaction between the knower and the known

d) suggests that knowledge is a kind of interaction between the knower and the known.

Kant distinguished between two functions of reason, ____________________ and ____________________. a) scientific reason/philosophical reason b) survival/understanding c) factual reason/theoretical reason d) theoretical reason/practical reason

d) theoretical reason; practical reason