Philosophy 101 Midterm

If libertarianism is true then which of the following claims is true as well?

Agents have special causal powers.

Which of the following sentences expresses a necessary truth?

All monkeys are animals.

According to an indeterminist, which of the following actions might qualify as free?

All of the above

Which of the following is a belief that is embraced by Socrates about death?

All of the above

Which of the following claims represents and analytic truth?

Any person who is at least 6' tall is taller than a person who is exactly 5' tall

Which Western philosopher embraced the idea that life is essentially suffering and pain?

Arthur Schopenhauer

What is true about the relationship between belief and knowledge?

Believing that p is necessary condition for knowing that p.

The question "What caused the universe to exist?" is a

Both a scientific and a philosophical question.

What claim about the relationship between science and philosophy is true?

Both science and philosophy use reason to make sense of the universe.

Which of the following claims is true?

Color is a secondary quality

The philosophical idea that we have free will although the future is determined by the past is called what?

Compatibilism

Suppose you meet somebody who says the following: "To be free means to act on desires that we have chosen and really want to have." This position about free will is best compatible with what theory of free will?

Deep Self-Compatibilism

In Gettier's thought experiment concerning Smith and Jones, his main purpose was to . . .

Demonstrate that the classical definition of knowledge is false

The philosophical idea that the past brings about one particular future is called what?

Determinism

The "problem of induction" is particularly pressing for which theory of knowledge?

Empiricism

The name of the philosopher who argued that we should not be afraid of death because death is nothing to us and cannot feel bad is__________

Epicurus

Which of the following branches of philosophy is most centrally focused on questions concerning human knowledge?

Epistemology

What is Shelly Kagan's main worry about an eternal life?

Eternal life will eventually become tedius and boring.

The question "Is the death penalty morally justified?" is a

Ethical question

From the list below, choose the field of philosophy that the following claim best exemplifies: It is better to suffer an injustice than to inflict it on others

Ethics

a posteriori knowledge is knowledge that comes from . . .

Experience

It is causally possible that a domestic housecat could fly.

False

True or false? A hard determinist holds that some human actions are uncaused.

False

True or false? Both Epicurus' and Lucretius' arguments proceed under the assumption that we survive death as disembodied souls

False

True or false? If there was no God, then there would be no philosophical problem of free will.

False

True or false? Rationalists would reject the proposed "truths" of mathematics.

False

True or false? Samuel Scheffler agrees with Williams that an eternal life would become boring and tedious.

False

True or false? The "problem of the criterion" (as discussed in the Huemer essay) is an argument that attempts to refute Cartesian skepticism

False

True or false? The "sense" of the word 'know' that is the concern of epistemologists is the sense expressed by sentences like, "I know how to drive a car" and "Bill knows Mary."

False

True or false? The following is an example of a philosophical question: How many chromosomes does an embryo have?

False

If a person believes that there is no knowledge about any subject matter the person is called what?

Global skeptic

Suppose you meet somebody who says the following: "Freedom is an illusion. Our past condemns us to experience one particular future. We have no power to change that." This position about free will is best compatible with what theory of free will?

Hard Determinism

The philosophical idea that we have no free will because the future is determined by the past is called what?

Hard Determinism

Which theory of free will asserts that free will is an illusion?

Hard Determinism

What is Bernard Williams' main worry about an eternal life?

If we live forever, we lose our sense of self.

A person who believes that we survive our physical death not as the person we used to be, but as a something relevantly different (energy, atoms, life force, etc.) believes in this type of survival after death?

Impersonal Survival

Descartes is famous for his method of doubt. Which of the following describes this method correctly?

In order to find knowledge we have to start by doubting everything. If we find a belief that cannot be doubted then we have found a foundation for knowledge

The philosophical distinction between repeatable pleasures and exhaustive pleasures allows John Martin Fischer to argue for what conclusion?

It is possible that an eternal life is pleasurable.

Suppose somebody says, "I do not know how to write a paper for this philosophy class." In this case the person is using the word "know" in what sense?

Knowledge how

A "global" skeptic would claim . . .

Knowledge in any domain is not possible

Which of the following is the classical definition of knowledge?

Knowledge is justified true belief

Which of the following branches of philosophy focuses on the technical aspects of human reason?

Logic

The question "Does this conclusion follow from these premises?" is a

Logical question

The question "Does God exist?" is a

Metaphysical question

In certain situations we experience optical illusions. For example, we might see a table that looks green but which in reality is yellow. The existence of optical illusions raises a problem for what kind of theory of perception?

Naïve Realism

Which of the following is a premise of Lucretius' argument about death?

Nonexistence before birth is similar to nonexistence after death.

Which of the following captures Thomas Nagel's objection to Lucretius' argument about death?

Our nonexistence before our births is different from our nonexistence after our deaths.

The question "Is death the separation of the soul from the body?" is a

Philosophical question

Which of the following sentences expresses a contingent truth?

Planet earth is more than 5.3 billion years old.

Supporting the existence and importance of "a priori" knowledge is most important for which of the following theories of knowledge?

Rationalism

Which of the following sources of knowledge is advocated by the theory of knowledge known as "rationalism"?

Reason

All humans try to make sense of the world that surrounds them. What method of making sense of the world primarily relies on revelation?

Religion

The question "Did college freshmen in the year 2019 drink more or less alcohol than college freshmen drank in the year 1972?" is a

Scientific question

The question "Do electrons have more mass than protons" is a

Scientific question

The question "Is there a black hole at the center of our galaxy" is a

Scientific question

If indeterminism is true then which of the following claims is true?

Some events happen for no reason

Which of the following is a premise of Epicurus' argument about death?

Something can be bad for me only if I exist

Which of the following captures Thomas Nagel's objection to Epicurus' argument about death

Something can be bad for you even if it does not feel bad

Which of the following is a basic empirical belief?

There are more than five people in this classroom right now.

Which of the following is the final conclusion of Epicurus' argument about death?

There are no reasons to be afraid of death.

A "local" skeptic would claim . . .

There is at least one domain in which knowledge is not possible

Suppose you meet somebody who says the following: "To be free means to do what one wants to do and not to be constrained by anybody or anything." This position about free will is best compatible with what theory of free will?

Traditional Compatibilism

The philosophical idea that claims that an action that is caused can be free as long as the act is caused by our will and is not forced by somebody else is called what?

Traditional Compatibilism

Which theory of free will asserts that actions that are caused by any of our desires are free actions?

Traditional Compatibilism

In his podcast discussing skepticism, philosopher Barry Stroud discusses (among other things) Descartes' "dreaming argument," and argument that could (in principle) provide support for epistemological skepticism.

True

In his video discussion of consciousness and free will, Daniel Dennett asserts that a mechanistic view of consciousness is compatible with the existence of human free will.

True

It is logically possible for water to turn to wine.

True

True of false? Socrates is correctly characterized as having an "agnostic" attitude toward death.

True

True or false: In Gettier's thought experiment about Smith, Smith was purported to be in a situation where he had justified, true belief but not knowledge.

True

True or false? A person can be a local skeptic but still believe that mathematics can give us true knowledge about the world.

True

True or false? According to Bernard Williams, for an immortal life to be meaninful, a sense of self must be preserved over time.

True

True or false? If empiricism is true, then knowledge is commonly obtained in an "a posteriori" fashion.

True

True or false? The existence of innate ideas would support rationalism.

True

True or false? The following is an example of a philosophical question: Is it morally permissible to remove chromosomes from an embryo?

True

True or false? The following is an example of a synthetic claim: The New England Patriots lost Super Bowl XLII.

True

True or false? The following pair of claims is logically inconsistent: All cats have fur/my cat has no fur

True

True or false? The religious problem of free will is (in part) caused by God's "all knowing" attribute.

True

Classify the following argument. 1. All animals are mammals 2. All mammals are warm-blooded Therefore: All animals are warm-blooded. This argument can be classified as:

Valid and unsound

Which of the following claims raises a strong objection to Hard Determinism?

We are fully responsible for most of our actions and we can responsible only if we have fee will