philosophy logic test 1

Bandwagon

A fallacy which assumes that because something is popular, it is therefore good, correct, or desirable.

Personal Incredulity

Arguing that because something is difficult to understand it must necessarily be untrue.

what does 'cogito ergo sum' mean?

I think therefore I am

Ad-hominem

In an argument, this is an attack on the person rather than on the opponent's ideas.

False Cause

Presuming that a real or perceived relationship between things means that one is the cause of the other.

The Fallacy Fallacy

Presuming that because a claim has been poorly argued, or a fallacy has been made, that the conclusion is necessarily wrong.

true/false: Berkeley believes that the abstraction of an idea can never be separated from the thing itself

True

from where do abstract ideas originate?

Words

LOCKE

the Locke section

plat believed that all people want to do

what is best

Slippery Slope

A fallacy that assumes that if we allow A to happen, then Z will consequently happen too, therefore A should not happen.

The Gambler's Fallacy

The belief that the odds of a chance event increase if the event hasn't occurred recently.

sound argument

a strong inductive argument or a valid argument with true premises

HUME

all of hume's bullshit

what does Descartes doubt

all sensory information, relies on apriori knowledge

Descartes believes that if something can be _______, then is is not knowledge

called into doubt

what is Hume's epistemology?

empiricism

DESCARTES

section on descartes

True or false: Plato thinks, at the time birth, a human's soul is equipped with all of the knowledge they will have in life

true

Appeal to Emotion

Occurs when emotions or emotionally-charged language is used in an attempt to persuade the reader. Using manipulative emotion instead of valid argument or compelling argument.

Upon Birth, Locke Asserts that the mind is...

a blank slate (tabula rasa)

what fallacy does he commit in his God argument

burden of proof

this involves which form of argument?

inductive

what is he most certain of?

the fact that he is actually thinking

Appeal to Authority

A fallacy in which a speaker or writer seeks to persuade not by giving evidence but by appealing to the respect people have for a famous person or institution.

Begging the Question

A logical fallacy in which the conclusion is hidden within the premises. Typically called "circular reasoning."

Loaded Question

Asking a question that has an assumption built into it so that it cannot be answered without making one appear guilty. "Do you still beat your girlfriend?"

Composition or Division

Assuming that what is true about one part of something is also true about the whole.

Texas Sharpshooter

Cherry-picking data clusters to suit an argument, or finding a pattern to fit a presumption.

Descartes Discourse

Descartes claims to have found a particularly effective method of guiding his reason that has helped him to make many significant discoveries in his scientific research. He undertakes to explain his method by means of autobiography: he tells the story of his intellectual development and of how he came upon this method. He developed his method largely in reaction to the schooling in Aristotelian philosophy that he received at the hands of the Jesuits. He had been told that he would find knowledge and certainty in his schooling, but came out thoroughly dissatisfied. He had found no certainty, only ever-increasing doubts, so he left school, and traveled the world, learning about different people and different customs. The real turning point comes on November 10, 1619, when he spends a day alone in a room with his thoughts. He decides to call into doubt all his former beliefs and opinions, holding on only to certain guiding principles and certain moral maxims that would help him live productively during this period of doubt. Applying these principles to algebra and geometry he has great success, discovering analytic geometry. After nine years of travel, he settles in Holland and begins a systematic philosophical investigation. He finds he can doubt pretty much everything except the fact that he exists. The very act of doubting suggests to him that he must exist, or else he would not be able to doubt. He concludes: "I am thinking, therefore I exist." His knowledge of this claim is a "clear and distinct perception": it is not something that he learns through reasoning, but something that he simply knows because he is incapable of doubting it. He concludes further that he is essentially a thinking thing, and that his soul is distinct from his body. He also provides two arguments to prove the existence of God. Descartes claims he has also developed a set of scientific principles that have allowed him to make a great many discoveries. He had initially planned to publish these in a work entitled The World, but suppressed the manuscript when he learnt of Galileo's condemnation by the Inquisition. Instead, he provides a brief summary of the sorts of things he discusses in that work. He claims that he would rather remain free from controversy during his lifetime so that he can devote his energy to further research rather than bitter disputes. The three essays—on optics, meteorology, and geometry—are meant to serve as examples of how his method can be applied. He also hopes that his publication of these essays will lead others to contribute their thoughts in those fields as well.

what are impressions? what are the two kinds of impressions?

First experience, sense data and internal psychological experiences

Berkeley believes that his sensory perceptions come from....

God

what is responsible for those reliable qualities of nature?

God

what qualities does Descartes attribute to his idea of God?

Hes perfect, all good, all knowing, existing

Genetic Fallacy

Judging something good or bad on the basis of where it comes from, or from whom it comes.

Tu quoque

Latin for "you say": avoiding having to engage with criticism by turning it back on the accuser - answering criticism with criticism.

No True Scotsman

Making what could be called an appeal to purity as a way to dismiss relevant criticisms or flaws of an argument. John: "No Scotsman would ever drink wine." Jim: "But McDougal is a Scotsman and he drinks wine." John: "Well, no true Scotsman would ever drink wine."

Strawman

Misrepresenting someone else's argument to make it easier to attack.

Special Pleading

Moving the goalposts to create exceptions when a claim is shown to be false.

can we separate the abstract idea of motion without picturing a body?

No, the idea behind this is that we cannot imagine the idea of motion without imagining an object in motion

Middle-Ground Fallacy

Saying that a compromise, or middle point, between two extremes is the truth.

Descartes meditations

The Meditator reflects that he has often found himself to be mistaken with regard to matters that he formerly thought were certain, and resolves to sweep away all his pre-conceptions, rebuilding his knowledge from the ground up, and accepting as true only those claims which are absolutely certain. All he had previously thought he knew came to him through the senses. Through a process of methodological doubt, he withdraws completely from the senses. At any moment he could be dreaming, or his senses could be deceived either by God or by some evil demon, so he concludes that he cannot trust his senses about anything. Ultimately, however, he realizes that he cannot doubt his own existence. In order to doubt or to think, there must be someone doing the doubting or thinking. Deceived as he may be about other things, he cannot help but conclude that he exists. Since his existence follows from the fact that he is thinking, he concludes that he knows at least that he is a thing that thinks. He further reasons that he comes to know this fact by means of his intellect, and that the mind is far better known to him than the body. The Meditator's certainty as to his own existence comes through a clear and distinct perception. He wonders what else he might be able to know by means of this sure method. In order to be certain that his clear and distinct perceptions are indubitable, however, he first needs to assure himself that God exists and is not deceiving him. He reasons that the idea of God in his mind cannot be created by him since it is far more perfect than he is. Only a being as perfect as God could cause an idea so perfect. Thus, the Meditator concludes, God does exist. And because he is perfect, he would not deceive the Meditator about anything. Error arises not because the Meditator is deceived but because the will often passes judgment on matters that the limited intellect does not understand clearly and distinctly. Secure in the knowledge that his clear and distinct perceptions are guaranteed by God, the Meditator investigates material things. He clearly and distinctly perceives that the primary attribute of body is extension and that the primary qualities of body are size, shape, breadth, etc. He also derives a second proof for the existence of God from the fact that, while bodies are essentially extended, God is essentially existent. A God that does not exist is as inconceivable as a body that is not extended. Because the essence of body is extension and the essence of mind is thought, the Meditator concludes that the two are completely distinct. He decides also that while he can clearly and distinctly perceive the primary qualities of material things, he has only a confused and obscure perception of secondary qualities. This is because the senses are meant to help him get around in the world, not to lead him to the truth.

Appeal to Nature

This argument goes that because something is natural, it is therefore valid, justified, inevitable, good, or ideal.

fallacy practice: Some dogs bark. Some dogs are Labrador retrievers. Therefore, all dogs bark

This is an unsound deductive argument

true/false: Descartes argues for the existence of God

True

Ambiguity

Using double meaning or ambiguities of language to mislead or misrepresent the truth.

Anecdotal

Using personal experience or an isolated example instead of a valid argument especially to dismiss statistics.

Black or White

When two alternative states are presented as the only possibilities, when in fact more possibilities exist.

According to Plato, who is the worst kind of person....

a person who appears just but is truly unjust

this approach is also known as...

a priori knowledge (prior to experience)

Argument

a set of at least two sentences of which one (the conclusion) is claimed to be supported by the other ( the premises)

what kind of thing does Descartes say he is?

a thinking thing, he arrives at this conclusion because he is able to think

deductive argument

an argument such that if the premises are true the conclusion is probably also true

strong inductive argument

an argument such that if the premises are true the conclusion is probably also true

valid argument

an argument such that if the premises are true the conclusion must also be true (correct deductive argument)

inductive argument

an argument such that the conclusion is claimed to be made probable by the premises. Based on empirical (i.e. sensory) evidence

Fallacy practice: the theory of evolution is true. Our introductory biology text book says it is true, so it must be true

appeal to authority fallacy, this is an example of an weak inductive argument

Plato believes that good people...

are born that way

Which Statement does Hume disagree with? a. in the past, I have found that fire causes pain and sugar is sweet b. the future will always be like the past c. when i encounter similar examples of fire and sugar, their effects will be similar to the past cases

b.the future will always be like the past circular reasoning fallacy

hume states that the powers we attribute to the relation between cause and effect are....

beyond reasoning

___________________: one kind of impression always follows another

cause and effect

Berkeley's materialism grants him...

ccertainty

Locke believed empiricism leads to..

certainty

Hume has argued that causes and effects are distinct events and that the only reason we connect a particular cause with a particular effect is because the two have been ________ in our experience

constantly conjoined

__________________________: when two or more impressions happen together, we group the corresponding ideas together

contiguity

fallacy practice: all men are mortal. Birds are men. Therefore, birds are mortal.

equivocation fallacy, this is an example of an invalid deductive argument.

where does Locke say ideas ( perception, though, understanding) come from?

experience

what does priori mean?

from first principles

how does Hume's definition of idea differ from Locke and Berkeley's

he makes a case against god rather than for him, he also overlooks psychological aspects

Descartes doubts his experience because....

he may have false memories, he may be trapped in the matrix, he could be being deceived by a demon

Berkeley can only be certain of...

his own perception

according to hume, all of our ideas come from experience. Ideas are essentially copies of _________, but lack in ________.

impressions; vivacity

what are Locke's opinions about doubting sensory knowledge

it can be hazardous

what are the primary qualities of your cell phone?

its weight, dimensions, anything that can be physically measured

What are Platos forms

knowledge, wisdom, the good, intelligible, justice

what are the two objects of human reason

matters of fact, relations of ideas

he proposes a dualism between...

mind and body

what is Descartes epistemology?

rationalism

Berkeley is a...

rationalist

Plato believes arrival at the forms is achieve through....

reason/intellect/wisdom

Plato believes that knowledge comes in the form of...

recollection

__________________________ :when we think of one idea or have a certain impression, we think of another like it

resemblence

what are locke's two fundamental kinds of ideas? Examples?

sensation: texture reflection: memory

what are the secondary qualities of your cell phone?

texture, color, emotion, sound

humes approach to empiricism results in skepticism towards..

the self, god, the external world, causality

Empiricism

the theory that all knowledge is derived from sense-experience. Stimulated by the rise of experimental science, it developed in the 17th and 18th centuries, expounded in particular by John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume.

rationalism

the theory that reason rather than experience is the foundation of certainty in knowledge.

Berkeley believes that the self is composed of...

the will and the understanding

PLATO

these next cards refer to information on plato

if somebody does a bad, thing, it is because..

they didn't know of the true good

true/ false: if we cannot trace an idea back to its original impression than we cannot draw an legitimate conclusion about that idea

true

Hume says our impressions are internal perceptions of the external world. therefore, what kind of judgement's can we make about what lies outside experience?

we cant make judgments, fundamental beliefs are based on psychological habits that carry us far beyond what logic and experience could ever prove to us

Plato believed that all people want to do...

what is best