Philosophy Quiz Questions

Churchland's discussion of phlogiston.

Just as phlogiston falsely described the phenomena of metal rust, folk psychology falsely describes the phenomena of mental events.

False

Kan't empirical ego is the self that is basic and necessary for all human experience.

Hypothetical Imperaitve

Kant's definition: A command that is conditional, dependent on wanting a further goal or inclination.

Maxim

Kant's definition: A subjective principle of action.

False

Kierkegaard believe that social identity is the only relevant identity.

False

Kierkegaard believed that social identity is the only relevant one.

False

Luce Irigaray claims that the concept of an "essential" self is liberating and expressive, particularly when applied to women.

True

Malcolm X claims that African-American identities are largely determined by a white society.

Which of the following statements is NOT part of Descartes' argument to prove that mind and body are two distinct things?

My idea of body originates from God.

False

Nagel would NOT consider Andrew to have consciousness in his later development that includes the capacity to taste, touch, and feel pain and pleasure sensations.

Which of the following items would NOT be considered an innate idea according to Descartes?

The logic behind putting the idea of horse and horn together to construct the idea of unicorn.

Which statement does NOT correctly describe the identity theory of mind and body according to the authors?

The theory claims that mentalistic terms, like beliefs and desires, do not refer to anything real.

Which statement does NOT correctly characterize Ryle's criticism of Cartesian dualism?

There are no such things as mental processes but simply brain processes.

Descartes' "Evil Genius"

To which epistemological concept do the machines responsible for creating the Matrix for humans most closely correspond?

False

Because connectionism criticizes functionalism by saying that it is the "hardward" i.e. brain that determines the software i.e. behavior, not the other way around, the theory can be essentially said to revive the identity theory.

Searle's Chinese Room Argument

Being programmed to produce the correct output and right behavior outcome based on certain input reception leaves out completely the mind's essential quality, the understanding.

John Searle

Being surprised by Andrew's ability to recognize and reciprocate emotions, the owner takes him to the manufacturer to ask if there are other robots like him. Seeing this development as a potential problem for his company, the CEO tries to stop the owner from further continuing Andrew's progress toward being more human, expressing his disapproval by saying, "It is a household appliance, but you act as though it is a man." Which philosopher's express claim most closely resembles the attitude in this comment?

Derrida; Hesse

Both _____ and ______ believe that the "unified self" is just a product of Western culture and that if there is a "self," it must be plural.

Which distinction plays an essential role in functionalism?

Causal relationships between inputs and outputs vs. the material constitution realizing them.

True

Churchland concedes to the criticism that the whole-scale elimination of folk psychology, much desired and predicted by eliminative materialism, may not be realistic.

False

Cultural relativism insists that if two moralities are fundamentally different, it is impossible for them both to be correct.

True

Descartes believes that if you place a piece of solid wax near the fire so that it changes into a liquid form, the same wax still remains.

True

Descartes know that he exists and continues to exist as long as he is a "thing that thinks."

True

Epiphenomenalism has the consequence that it is the body and its organs that do all the causal work and the mind is just an effect of their movements.

Mind

For Descartes, self-identity lies where?

Ressentiment

For Nietzsche, the principle of slave ethics is __________.

False

Gandhi dies as the result of a hunger strike (fast), a form of non-violent protest.

True

Gandhi is a autobiographical movie based on the lawyer turned activist, by the same name, famous for his advocation of non-violent civil disobedience.

Which of the following statements accurately describes Descartes' plan for the method of doubt?

He believes he can just attack the basic principles on which his beliefs rest.

The central argument for Descartes' total skepticism about beliefs based on sense perception (what we see, hear, touch, smell, and taste) is that:

He cannot, with absolute certainty, tell the difference between dream and real life.

Hume

His "Bundle" theory claims that the self is nothing more than a bundle of perceptions.

On which logical principle is Shaffer's argument dependent according to the authors?

If X and Y are identical, then they must have all and only the same properties.

Ghandi is thrown off a train for being an Indian and traveling in a first class compartment.

In the film, what happens to Gandhi to introduce him to racial separation ("apartheid") in South Africa?

True

In the movie, Gattaca, Vincent is masquarding as Jerome because he is considered "invalid" by his society. Would Sartre say that Vincent (and quite possibly Jerome) were living in Bad Faith?

The human will may not be genetically engineered.

In the movie, Gattaca, Vincent is shown to excel by utilizing another's identity. What point is the director making about eugenics here?

True

In the movie, Gattaca, one of the main characters immolates himself.

"There is only one categorical imperative, and it is this: Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law." From this formulation of the categorical imperative, Kant derives another, which states:

"Treat humanity, whether in your own person or the person of any other, never merely as a means, but also always as an end in themselves."

False

In the movie, The Matrix, the main character Neo is offered the choice between a red pill and a blue pill. He decides to take the blue pill thus "waking" him up to reality.

Berkeley's complex idea made up of several simply ideas.

In the restaurant scene where, dining with Agent Smith, Cypher reveals his intention to betray Morpheus, he says "You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. When I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling me it's juicy and delicious." Which of the following philosophical concepts best explains the statement?

The central reason for Descartes' total skepticism about beliefs about mathematical truths is that:

It is possible that an evil demon tricks him into believing what his senses tell him.

True

According to the authors, epistemology has been more dominant in British philosophy than Continental European philosophy.

False

Aristotle's conception of happiness (eudaimonia) is identical to the Christian conception of happiness.

Appearance vs. Reality

According to Bertrand Russell, which distinction has been most troublesome for philosophers?

False (Intuition of Mind)

According to Descartes, the nature of the piece of wax (that it is something extended, flexible and changeable) is discovered by his sight and imagination.

Universalize It

According to Kant, in order to test the moral validity of a maxim, one should first do what?

Happiness

According to Mill, what is the "ultimate end" that virtues promote?

True

According to Ryle's theory of mind, Andrew (in the state prior to acquiring the central nervous system and organs that make him capable of sensation) would essentially have a mental life.

False

According to the authors, Descartes' confidence in the existence of corporeal things is not convincing because he has to assume God's existence in order to have such confidence, but Descartes in fact doubts God's existence.

Continental Rationalists

According to the authors, Socrates' epistemological view corresponds to:

Russell's Essay

Reality is not known to us immediately but only as an inference from our immediate experience.

"Bad Faith"

Sarte's term to define "the refusal to accept oneself."

Feeling guilty because of the drive to cruelty.

Slave ethics "compensates by an imaginary vengeance." Another imaginary vengeance we inflict upon ourselves is __________.

Kierkegaard's Public

Speaking about the condition of the people in the Matrix, Morpheus says to Neo: "But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it." Which concept discussed in Chapter 4 best characterizes this situation?

Which statement correctly describes the proposed solutions to the mind-body problem and their problems according to the authors?

Spinoza's dual aspect theory, in speaking of dual aspects instead of dual substances, pushes the problem of interaction just one step back.

Functionalism

The fact that we can imagine the possibility of alien creatures that are not carbon-based life-forms, as evidenced by science fictions, goes to support:

Descartes

When Morpheus and Neo enter the computer-simulated construct to explain the Matrix, Morpheus says, "Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream, Neo? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?" Which philosopher makes a prominent case for refusing to equate sense perception with truth based on the same line of thinking?

Rational Animal

Which of the following descriptions is NOT indubitably true of the 'I'?

His Existence

Which of the following items constitutes, metaphorically speaking, 'the Archimedean point' for Descartes?

Functionalism

Which theory of mind would support the movie's apparent assumption that robots can be humans?

Because virtue may contribute to the happiness of many

Why might we disinterestedly love virtue, as Mill suggests when he writes, "Virtue, according to the utilitarian doctrine, is not naturally and originally part of the end, but it is capable of becoming so; and in those who love it disinterestedly it has become so, and is desired and cherished, not as a means to happiness, but as a part of their happiness"?

Hume

______ believed that we cannot rely on spatiotemporal continuity to account for the self.

Locke

_______ believed that we know that the self exists because of memory and consciousness.

Feminists Object

_________ to the classic formulation of the mind-body problem.