PHI Ch 4 & 6 Quiz

"Independent reality" means _______. A. external reality that exists regardless of what we think about it B. the most fundamental facts C. those facts that do not depend on other facts D. things that we can only find out through philosophical investigation

A

Compatibilism says that _______. A. there is free will even though determinism is true B. there is free will, so determinism is false C. not every event is determined D. some events are uncaused

A

Scottish philosopher David Hume argued that the will is free only when it _______. A. is not constrained by external compulsion B. determines the action that it causes C. does not act as a result of disordered impulses D. is impeded by natural desires

A

Unlike the hard determinists, Jean-Paul Sartre assumed that human freedom is _______. A. real and total B. an illusion C. only partially correct D. impeded by external forces

A

What did William James believe provided the best evidence for free will? A. People live their lives with the assumption of personal freedom and responsibility/ B. People are born with certain basic instincts that influence and determine how they behave. C. People are shaped by their environment, conditioned by their experiences to be the kind of people they are. D. People are governed by psychological forces, many of them unconscious, that cause them to think, feel, and act in certain ways.

A

What was Kant's relation to the rationalists and empiricists? A. He wanted to synthesize the two theories together into a new, more compelling theory B. He wanted to develop a better rationalism. C. He wanted to develop a better empiricism. D. He thought that both were completely wrong.

A

Existentialism:

A philosophical and literary movement that focuses on the uniqueness of each human individual as distinguished from abstract universal human qualities. · Existentialism was defined by Sartre as "existence precedes essence," meaning that humans create themselves through free choices and are responsible for who they are. · While William James was most concerned with establishing the possibility of freedom, Sartre's view of freedom is extreme: We are "condemned" to be totally free, a radical view of freedom that makes us completely responsible for who we are.

Empiricism is the position that _______. A. there is an external world B. reality can be perceived through the senses C. reality exists only in the world of forms D. philosophy is the pursuit of knowledge

B

Leibniz believed that the human mind _______. A. has innate knowledge of universal ideas B. has innate tendencies to form universal ideas C. learns everything by experience D. is a blank slate at birth

B

Libertarians believe that _______. A. undetermined actions are simply random B. people are able to make genuinely free choices by exercising their free wills. C. determined actions are simply random D. human freedom is an illusion governed by universal causal laws

B

The authors of Women's Ways of Knowing added an earlier stage to Perry's four stages of cognitive development. This stage is called _______. A. obedience B. silence C. reflection D. subjugation

B

Which feminist philosopher used the analogy of the birdcage to explain the necessity of a macroscopic view of oppression? A. Sara Lee Barthke B. Marilyn Frye C. Gloria Steinem D. Sheryl Sandberg

B

Which philosopher's skepticism led him to conclude that there is no sound reason to believe in the principles of cause and effect? A. John Locke B. David Hume C. George Berkeley D. Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz

B

Which view maintains that there are some events, including certain human actions, that are not necessarily determined by previous events? A. Determinism B. Indeterminism C. Compatibilism D. Humanism

B

Sartre's "first principle of existentialism" is the idea that _______. A. "People are born with certain basic instincts that influence and determine how they behave." B. "If we knew the person thoroughly, and knew all the inducements which are acting upon him, we could foretell his conduct with as much certainty as we can predict any physical event." C. "Man's life is a line that nature commands him to describe upon the surface of the earth, without his ever being able to swerve from it, even for an instant." D. "Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself."

D

A 2007 experiment at the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience showed brain activity signaling a choice being made up to seven seconds before the subject experienced knowledge of making a choice. The researcher believed this indicated that free will is an illusion. Critics disagreed because ________. A. brain scans are like watching the brain think B. the researcher was unable to replicate his results C. the brain may simply have been "ramping up" to make a decision D. Socrates had conducted similar experiments and come to a different conclusion

C

According to Locke, qualities of objects that produce sensations in people are considered to be _______. A. impressionistic qualities B. illlusory qualities C. secondary qualities D. primary qualities

C

Based on her study of interactions in mixed-sex professional meetings, Carol Edelsky determined that women "came into their own" in which type of situation? A. Turn-taking floor B. Hierarchical floor C. Collaborative floor D. Cooperative floor

C

David Hume used the word "impressions" to mean _______. A. the illusory nature of sensory experience B. the remembrance of things past C. what we directly experience through the senses or emotions D. the products of our memory or imagination

C

Determinism is the thesis that _______. A. no one has free will B. no one is responsible for their actions C. every event is determined by events that cause it D. everyone determines their own destiny

C

George Berkeley denied the existence of matter because _______. A. he thought that matter is illusory B. he did not think our senses are reliable C. he thought that the only things in the universe that existed were minds and ideas experienced by these minds D. he thought that people should use their common sense

C

Indeterminism accepts the possibility that _______. A. our actions are probably always uncaused B. we could only have made one choice under a given set of circumstances C. some human actions may be random and so free D. human freedom is an illusion governed by universal causal laws

C

Locke believed that rationalism is false because _______. A. there are many things that we cannot know B. he did not believe in the existence of universal ideas C. people disagree about a great many things D. he believed it was always possible to show that knowledge arises from experience

C

Moritz Schlick argued that the will is only free when it _______. A. is unimpeded by external constraints B. is impeded by external and internal constraints C. is unimpeded by external or internal constraints D. is impeded by internal constraints

C

W.T. Stace argued against hard determinism by claiming that _______. A. we can tell that determinism must be false B. hard determinists do not understand free will C. even hard determinists behave as though they believe in free will D. not all events are determined by their causes

C

As the term is used in philosophy, which of the following represents the view that humans are able to make authentically free choices, i.e., that even though we make one choice, we could have made a different one? A. Determinism B. Creationism C. Compatibilism D. Libertarianism

D

Berkeley's epistemology of subjective idealism is represented by which Latin phrase? A. errare humanum est B. de gustibus non est disputandum C. cogito ergo sum D. esse est percipi

D

Bertrand Russell said that the nature of reality is difficult to arrive at because _______. A. our senses can be unreliable B. we do not really have sense-data C. we might be deceived by someone D. we can only perceive something using our senses

D

In Women's Ways of Knowing, the authors reported that the women they were interviewing sometimes said, "You're asking the wrong question!" They interpreted this to mean that these women were in which of Perry's stages of cognitive development? A. Received Knowledge B. Subjective Knowledge C. Procedural Knowledge D. Constructed Knowledge

D

Kant's epistemology that describes truths about the world that are both necessary and universal is known as his theory of _______. A. a posteriori dualism B. noumenal reality C. subjective knowledge D. transcendental idealism

D

On what basis did Clarence Darrow and Baron D'Holbach argue against freedom of the will? A. The will is constrained by social forces. B. People do not always make the best decisions. C. People do not understand why they do the things they do. D. The will is subject to natural forces just like everything else.

D

What were Locke's criticisms of the rationalists? What was his theory about human knowledge?

For Locke and other empiricists, all human knowledge can ultimately be traced back to experiences we have had, transmitted through our five senses. The mind is a tabula rasa (blank slate) on which experience writes. · Locke objected to the rationalist ideas that knowledge is innate and that true knowledge can be achieved through "rational intuition" without recourse to sense experience. · Knowledge cannot be innate if not all humans share the same knowledge, which they clearly do not. · Locke's four independent elements in the knowing process were related to Newton's mechanistic view of the universe; these are (a) the entity or object in the world, (b) sensations emitted by the object to our senses, (c) ideas—images produced in our minds by the sensations, and (d) the person or conscious mind who perceives and reflects on the ideas.

Discuss the role of the "double bind" in feminist philosopher Marilyn Frye's explanation of women's oppression. ·

Frye identifies this as the double bind, which she describes as a situation in which "options are reduced to a very few and all of them expose one to penalty, censure or deprivation." · Women face a situation in which no matter how they respond to external constraints on their freedom they will incur punishment. · For example, in Western society, messages about being sexually active often conflict, leaving women with no meaningfully free choice. No matter which choice she makes, she is left in a less than ideal situation.

Discuss George Berkeley's ideas regarding the whether objects exist independently of our perception of them. ·

George Berkeley: subjective idealism (the belief that only ideas and conscious minds have actual existence) expressed as esse est percipi (To be is to be perceived). · Using the example of the table, Berkeley admits that there must be something which continues to exist when we are not perceiving it, and seeing the table gives us reason to believe that there is something that persists even when we are not seeing it. But he thinks that this something cannot be radically different in nature from what we see, and cannot be independent of seeing altogether, though it must be independent of our seeing. He is thus led to regard the "real" table as an idea in the mind of God. · What the senses immediately tell us is not the truth about the object as it is apart from us, but only the truth about certain sense-data which, so far as we can see, depend upon the relations between us and the object. Thus what we directly see and feel is merely "appearance," which we believe to be a sign of some "reality" behind.

What was unique about Kant's philosophy, and how did he try to synthesize the views of rationalists and empiricists together?

How does the description of "real talk" in Women's Ways of Knowing reflect the stage of cognitive development that Perry called Constructed Knowledge? Compare and contrast "real talk" to didactic talk. · Constructed knowledge is characterized by a recognition of the interrelatedness of knowledge, knowing and the knower. Based on intense self-reflection, women in this stage view knowledge as a constant process of construction, deconstruction and reconstruction, often in concert with others. · Constructivists make a distinction between "really talking" and what they consider to be didactic talk: § In didactic talk, each participant may report experience, but there is no attempt among participants to join together to arrive at some new understanding. § "Real talk" requires careful listening; it implies a mutually shared agreement that together you are creating the optimum setting so that half-baked or emergent ideas can grow. "Real talk" reaches deep into the experience of each participant; it also draws on the analytical abilities of each.

David Hume is widely considered to be one of the greatest philosophical skeptics of all time. Discuss the meaning of skepticism in epistemology.

In epistemology, skepticism is a school of thought that casts doubt on the possibility of achieving genuine knowledge. · Skepticism includes positions such as doubting all assumptions until proved or claiming that no knowledge is possible in any circumstances.

While both indeterminism and libertarianism differ from determinism, how do they also differ from each other?

Indeterminism holds that your choices, or at least some of your choices, are random and so free. Libertarians are convinced that people are able to make genuinely free choices by exercising their free wills. In practical usage, both views are often included under the general category of "Indeterminism."

How did Kant try to synthesize the views of rationalists and empiricists?

Kant attempted to synthesize the two competing schools of the modern period, rationalism and empiricism, by showing the important role both experience and reason play in constructing our knowledge of the world. · For Kant, the "self" is ultimately viewed as the synthesizing activity at the core of each one of us that integrates all of the disparate elements of experience into our experience, our world. · Rationalists were convinced that genuine knowledge is best achieved through our rational capacities, whereas empiricists were equally certain that all knowledge is derived from sense experience. · The cognitive processes of perceiving, developing beliefs, and constructing knowledge involve both the data of sense experience and what Kant terms the "faculties of the mind." It is through the active interaction of these two elements that we are able to "constitute" an orderly and intelligible world.

How did Leibnitz refute Locke's idea of the tabula rasa? Does 20th century research support Leibnitz's view or Locke's view?

Leibniz was a rationalist with a very modern notion of innate ideas. Rather than viewing them as being "stamped" on the human mind (Locke's metaphor) in a static, fully formed fashion, Leibniz believes that the human mind at birth contains "inclinations, dispositions, tendencies, or natural potentials" to form these ideas. · In the twentieth century, Jean Piaget's work in developmental psychology; Noam Chomsky's work in linguistics; Claude Levi-Strauss's work in anthropology, etc., have developed exhaustive empirical evidence to suggest that humans come equipped with a whole array of innate conceptual structures that develop and become elaborated through their dynamic interaction with experience.

How do Kant's two versions of reality address the question of what we can actually know?

Phenomenal reality: Kant's term for the world as we experience (constitute) it. Known through the senses. · Noumenal reality: Kant's term for the world that exists beyond our perceptions, reality "in-itself." Known only through the application of "pure reason," which in addition to confirming the existence of "objective reality" also gives us knowledge of the possibility of genuine personal freedom and the existence of a universal moral law (the "categorical imperative"). · Kant identified three other transcendental ideas that we use to synthesize (or "bridge the gap") between the phenomenal and noumenal realities: self, cosmos, and God. These are universal a priori ideas that regulate and make possible the phenomenal world, but because they refer to possibilities that exist in the noumenal world they can never be empirically verified.

What is the "physicalist" perspective with regard to neuroscience and philosophy? How does contemporary research support or not support these ideas?

Physicalists believe that in the final analysis mental states (including consciousness in the most general sense) are identical with, reducible to, or explainable in terms of physical brain states. · Since our conscious mental life is identical with, reducible to, or explainable in terms of physical brain states, which themselves are governed deterministic causal laws, there is no place for "free will" to exist. · Research showing brain activity several seconds before awareness of making a choice has been cited as supporting physicalism, but other says that neuroscientists do not yet know exactly what is happening during that brain activity and more research is needed. · There is also research suggesting that people are more likely to act unethically - by cheating - if they believe that their choices are determined by factors beyond their control, essentially making a self-serving choice because they believe they have no choice.

Discuss philosopher Sandra Bartky's perspective of psychological oppression as it relates to the feminist view.

Psychological oppression occurs when one adopts social norms that identify oneself as inferior to a dominant group. · Psychological oppression prevents women from understanding how social forces systematically inhibit their abilities to freely choose or be autonomous. · This tacit approval of the status quo inhibits challenges to both external and internal constraints on women's freedom. · As members of a subordinated group, women face significant negative constraints on their life choices compared to men. · The possibility of free choice could be a viable vehicle to eliminate these negative external and internal constraints. But meaningful exercise of free choice is contingent on becoming aware of the fact and nature of repressive forces and then making consistent, determined choices to liberate oneself from them.

Hume divided human knowledge into two categories and insisted that every justifiable belief must meet the standards of one or the other. This idea has come to be known as "Hume's fork" (i.e. "fork in the road"). What are these two categories and why are they important to understanding Hume's philosophy?

Relation of Ideas: The principles of mathematics and logic as well as simple tautologies; discoverable by reason, without reference to experience, and do not permit logical contradictions. · Matters of Fact: Can be confirmed (or disconfirmed) by appeal to our experience. Necessarily involve sense experience. Permit logical contradictions

What problem did Bertrand Russell point to regarding knowledge and sense-data?

Russell used the term "sense-data" to mean things that are immediately perceived through the senses, such as color, sound, smell, texture, etc. and the term "sensation" to mean the experience of being aware of sense-data. · Russell said, "What we directly see and feel is merely 'appearance,' which we believe to be a sign of some 'reality' behind. But if the reality is not what appears, have we any means of knowing whether there is any reality at all? And if so, have we any means of finding out what it is like?"

What did Moritz Schlick mean when he said, "If decisions were causeless there would be no sense in trying to influence men ..."? What role did this thought have in his theory of free will?

Schlick agrees with mainstream compatibilists that freedom means the opposite of compulsion: People are "free" if they do not act under compulsion, and they are compelled or "unfree" when they are inhibited from without in the realization of their natural desires. · However, Schlick contends, the feeling of freedom does not say that under exactly the same inner and outer condition we could have willed something else. · As a result, Schlick's views in this regard accord with determinism, which holds that all human actions are brought about by previous events in accordance with universal causal laws. · "The feeling of responsibility assumes that I acted freely, that my desires impelled me."

Do Socrates and Alva Noe agree on the question of a connection between neuroscience and free will? Discuss their beliefs and how they relate to the beliefs currently dominant in the field of neuroscience today.

The common belief in neuroscience today is that our conscious lives (thinking, feeling, and engaging in a world) are accomplished in us by the action of our brain. The underlying assumption is that consciousness is a neuroscientific phenomenon that happens "inside" us, in the brain. · Socrates noted a difference between his "material self" and his choices based on conscious deliberation, saying, "I fancy that these sinews and bones would have been in the neighborhood of Megara or Boeotia long ago - impelled by a conviction of what is best! - if I did not think that it was more right and honorable to submit to whatever my country offers rather than to take to my heels and run away." · Noe disagrees with most neuroscientists (and others) who believe that consciousness is "located" in the brain. Instead, he believes that consciousness comes into existence for the whole person engaged in a dynamic relationship with its environment. He said, "To have a mind, though requires more than a brain. Brains don't have minds; people (and other animals) do."

Compatibilism (also called soft determinism):

The view that all events, including human actions, are caused. But human actions can only be considered free if they are the result of internal motivations, not the product of external influences or constraints.

· Determinism:

The view that every event, including human actions is brought about by previous events in accordance with universal causal laws that govern the world; human freedom is an illusion.

· Empiricists

believe that all human knowledge can ultimately be traced back to experiences we have had, transmitted through our five senses. Locke, Berkeley, and Hume were empiricists.

· Hard determinists

believe that every behavior can be traced to a cause, although they may disagree about what those causes are.

· Rationalists

believe that genuine, universal knowledge is discovered by using our reasoning abilities, independent of sense experience. Plato and Descartes were both rationalists.

Explain R.B. Hobart's idea of "wish-will-act." How does this affect our ability to choose our behavior?

· According to Hobart, free actions occur when the universal causal law is permitted to operate without interference: your wish for something translates into willing which becomes acting. · Unfree actions occur when the necessary causal process is interfered with by outside factors of restraint or constraint. · Freedom exists because, without other constraints, we could will one thing or a completely different thing.

What are some of the factors that might affect a person's actions? Which philosophical viewpoint takes the position that these factors influence a person's ability to choose his or her actions?

· External constraints include outside forces that limit human freedom, such as incarceration, threats, coercion, or physical circumstances beyond the individual's control. · Internal constraints are limits on freedom that come from within the individual and could include mental illness, compulsions, obsessions, or uncontrolled anxiety. · The goal of compatibilism is to find a common ground between "hard" determinism and indeterminism (or libertarianism),