Chapter 10: The Skeptic: David Hume Flashcards
Named from a Greek word that means “to examine,” what is a skeptic?
a. A true believer
b. A lover of wisdom
c. A person who trusts in experts
d. A person who demands clear, observable, undoubtable evidence before believing
d. A person who demands clear, observable, undoubtable evidence before believing
What is empiricism?
a. Empiricism is the philosophical commitment to the scientific method as the fundamental and exclusive method for any and all knowledge.
b. Empiricism is the theory of knowledge unique to British philosophers of the Enlightenment.
c. Empiricism is the disposition of wonder that begins any philosophical inquiry.
d. Empiricism is the theory that reason alone cannot provide knowledge of reality; rather, knowledge is derived from experience.
d. Empiricism is the theory that reason alone cannot provide knowledge of reality; rather, knowledge is derived from experience.
What is the name of the branch of philosophy that deals with the methods, scope, and origins of knowledge?
a. Metaphysics
b. Empiricism
c. Epistemology
d. Skepticism
c. Epistemology
How was John Locke’s background as a physician important to the development of empiricism?
a. He conducted experiments with his patients, especially blind and deaf patients missing a sense, to formalize universal standards for human sense perception.
b. Always negotiating between what patients reported and what he knew as an expert helped him formulate the distinction between primary and secondary qualities foundational to empiricism.
c. He was attuned to the rise of science, to the powers of direct perception, and to sometimes relying on good enough information not perfect certainty.
d. His medical training proved that a secular world of science corresponded better to reality than religious faith healers.
c. He was attuned to the rise of science, to the powers of direct perception, and to sometimes relying on good enough information not perfect certainty.
What theory of truth—that a belief is true when it refers to what actually exists—is preferred by empiricists?
a. Pragmatic theory
b. Coherence theory
c. Copy theory
d. Deflationary theory
c. Copy theory
What epistemological commitments do Locke, Berkeley, and Hume all share?
a. All knowledge is relative to individual perceptions.
b. Skepticism is the most effective way to find knowledge.
c. One must be certain to count as knowing anything.
d. All knowledge derives from sense experience.
d. All knowledge derives from sense experience.
Why does Berkeley say that it makes more sense to deny the existence of matter than it does to affirm it?
a. The method of negation is more reliable than affirmative proof.
b. Sometimes we seem to sense things that do not exist. It is possible at any moment. So it is possible that nothing material exists.
c. There are no primary qualities, only secondary qualities, because we cannot conceive of an unperceived, unexperienced existence.
d. Everything is constantly changing; reality is nothing more than an appearance.
c. There are no primary qualities, only secondary qualities, because we cannot conceive of an unperceived, unexperienced existence.
What is the empirical criterion of meaning?
a. According to empiricists, first impressions form meanings that can never be entirely overcome by second or subsequent impressions.
b. Empiricists assert that beliefs that cannot be traced back to some original sense experience are meaningless.
c. To make meaning as an empiricist is to have an impactful and purposeful sensory life.
d. Meaning for empiricists is whatever the person sensing their reality says it is.
b. Empiricists assert that beliefs that cannot be traced back to some original sense experience are meaningless.
How did Hume’s empirical criterion of meaning influence centuries of philosophers?
a. Every philosopher in Europe set out to disprove Hume and reestablish the meaningfulness of most areas of philosophical inquiry.
b. One consequence of this criterion was the continued exclusion of nonwhite men and all women from being recognized as capable of philosophical thinking.
c. Empiricism remained dominant for centuries. By the twentieth century, positivists used this criterion to conclude that most areas of philosophy were in fact meaningless, including morality and metaphysics.
d. Adherence to or rejection of the criterion became the litmus test for employment at major universities across the British Empire for the next two centuries.
c. Empiricism remained dominant for centuries. By the twentieth century, positivists used this criterion to conclude that most areas of philosophy were in fact meaningless, including morality and metaphysics.
What motivated Hume to self-censor, to publish incomplete versions of his books, and to withhold publication of some books until after his death?
a. Hume’s history books were so popular that he did not want to distract attention from them and lose sales.
b. Hume’s books named names of other living philosophers with whom he disagreed, so he revised them to be less offensive to his colleagues and friends.
c. People, and publishers, were unwilling to accept challenges to some accepted beliefs, especially about religion.
d. He was not yet convinced by the logical reasoning for all his views, so published only the parts he was confident about while interest in his ideas was still high.
c. People, and publishers, were unwilling to accept challenges to some accepted beliefs, especially about religion.
Hume was an agnostic despite many people insisting he must be an atheist. What is the difference?
a. Hume did not deny the existence of God, but his agnosticism meant that he doubted the truth of specific doctrines of various organized religions.
b. Hume did not deny the existence of God; rather, he adopted the agnostic view that we do not know enough to assert or deny the existence of God.
c. Hume did not merely refuse belief for or against God; he outright denied the existence of God.
d. Hume, as an agnostic, was skeptical of every belief except for the belief in God.
b. Hume did not deny the existence of God; rather, he adopted the agnostic view that we do not know enough to assert or deny the existence of God.
How is the bundle theory of self a skeptical view?
a. Hume ends up in doubt about what the self is when he finds some truth and some flaw in each theory of the self, so he bundles the theories together into a new theory.
b. By raising questions about what impressions there are of the self, Hume realizes he cannot find an answer. He concludes the self is a habitual way of talking about what is but a bundle of perceptions.
c. Hume rejects the existence of individual selves, concluding that who we are depends on who we are near. But this leads us to doubt our own sense of self in favor of bundling ourselves together with others.
d. The theory is not skeptical; it tells us exactly what the self, the persistent identity we each have, is. The method to find this is skeptical.
b. By raising questions about what impressions there are of the self, Hume realizes he cannot find an answer. He concludes the self is a habitual way of talking about what is but a bundle of perceptions.
What is it in the nature of the imagination to do?
a. Build up an image of God in human likeness
b. Creatively combine simple impressions into complex ideas
c. Fill in the gaps between perceptions
d. Drift off in random directions instead of following the path of reason
c. Fill in the gaps between perceptions
Why do we believe in an independent, external reality?
a. Only empiricists believe in an external world, but most people, especially those without philosophical training, are empiricists.
b. The world is still there when we wake up the same as we left it before we fell asleep.
c. We cannot help but believe it; it is a psychological construction.
d. Enough perceived instances of repeated cause and effect lead to this being the only logical conclusion.
c. We cannot help but believe it; it is a psychological construction.
How does Hume show that we take for granted—never prove—that the future will resemble the past?
a. We can infer probabilities by generalizing from limited instances, but science does not provide genuine knowledge since there is no certainty.
b. The future has not happened yet, so there is no possibility of anything necessarily happening.
c. As beings with free will, the future is ours to make, so whether it will resemble the past is up to us.
d. We observe things happening in patterned temporal sequences, but that is not evidence that these events must necessarily be that way always.
d. We observe things happening in patterned temporal sequences, but that is not evidence that these events must necessarily be that way always.
Hume’s skepticism concludes that there is no certainty in life. What impact does that conclusion have for how we live our lives?
a. There is no impact because no one really believes in certainty anyway.
b. Because there is still certainty in death, we live well in this life aiming at the afterlife.
c. We are psychologically compelled to live as if there is certainty despite the rational awareness that this is false.
d. Life is lived at the natural level of uncertainty, but there is certainty at the supernatural level of God’s foreknowledge, which can give us hope.
c. We are psychologically compelled to live as if there is certainty despite the rational awareness that this is false.
What arguments for God’s existence depend on the very cause–effect reasoning that Hume’s skepticism undermines?
a. Aquinas’s fourth and fifth arguments; the arguments that include specific characteristics of a personal god
b. All design arguments
c. All cosmological arguments, especially Aquinas’s first two ways (the Efficient Cause and first mover)
d. The argument from gradation
c. All cosmological arguments, especially Aquinas’s first two ways (the Efficient Cause and first mover)
What, according to Hume, is the relationship between facts and values?
a. Facts depend on human values.
b. Values correspond to facts.
c. Values are “mental facts.”
d. Facts themselves are valueless.
d. Facts themselves are valueless.
On what basis does Hume reject egoism (the view that what is morally right is what is in my own self-interest) as factually inaccurate and overly simplistic?
a. We ought not to be self-interested when it is obviously true that we are not alone in the world and our interests are best met in community with others.
b. The moral realm is one of oughts, of setting expectations of what we should do, not justifying basic human instincts toward self-preservation.
c. Careful observation of our experiences shows clearly that self-love is not the only or primary motivation for our actions.
d. Egoistical reasoning is the basis for a hedonistic morality, and Hume is skeptical of the accuracy of our judgments of pleasure and pain.
c. Careful observation of our experiences shows clearly that self-love is not the only or primary motivation for our actions.
What does Hume mean when he states that reason is a slave to passion?
a. The only cause and effect relationship that can be scientifically supported is in moral reasoning.
b. In the moral realm, reason’s role is secondary to the role of moral sentiments or feelings.
c. Ethics is really a branch of psychology; it does not belong in philosophy.
d. Reason’s role is primary, and the role of moral sentiments is to bolster reasoning of moral decisions.
b. In the moral realm, reason’s role is secondary to the role of moral sentiments or feelings.
What do emotions contribute to knowledge and thus moral judgment?
a. Emotions of pride, dignity, guilt, and shame are the only emotions that matter to human well-being because they are the moral sentiments.
b. Emotions influence what we notice or ignore, how we even observe experience and identify facts that form the basis of moral judgments and decisions.
c. Emotions form biases that corrupt moral judgments, which should be objective and principled.
d. Emotions make up the motivations, proper or improper, for moral judgments
b. Emotions influence what we notice or ignore, how we even observe experience and identify facts that form the basis of moral judgments and decisions.
How would Hume argue that murder is wrong?
a. Murder is wrong depending on whether the person who killed intended to take the life of the other person for selfish reasons.
b. Murder is the moral judgment that killing is wrong, that this sort of killing is the sort we disapprove of.
c. Murder is wrong because we have laws that say it is wrong and ought to be punished.
d. Murder is wrong simply because of the fact that it ends the life of another person.
b. Murder is the moral judgment that killing is wrong, that this sort of killing is the sort we disapprove of.
What is the relationship between women and emotional acumen?
a. Women are natural carers and nurturers and so develop moral sentiments and judgments rather easily compared to men.
b. Insofar as women are assigned the social role of caretakers, women are responsible for developing emotional acumen in children at proper developmental stages before it is too late.
c. Women’s strong and volatile emotions mean they lack emotional acumen, the skill of making sentimental moral judgments out of careful study of moral facts.
d. Although emotional acumen is a human issue, socially assigned roles have developed it well in women at the same time that traditional philosophy has given it less importance.
d. Although emotional acumen is a human issue, socially assigned roles have developed it well in women at the same time that traditional philosophy has given it less importance.
What does Annette Baier mean when she writes that Hume could be a “suitable male mascot for feminist philosophers”?
a. If feminist philosophers want full inclusion into the philosophical canon, they are going to have to select a few historical male philosophers to study and teach; Hume is a good choice for one of them.
b. Feminist philosophers should take seriously Hume’s methods but not any of his conclusions because those were warped by the sexism and racism of eighteenth-century Britain.
c. Feminists can see in Hume a symbol of someone who challenged mainstream views using careful reasoning that is not devoid of emotion and remains open to critical reflection itself.
d. The feminist future should turn the tables and objectify men as symbols and inspirational good luck charms, so they too will know what it feels like to be second-class citizens.
c. Feminists can see in Hume a symbol of someone who challenged mainstream views using careful reasoning that is not devoid of emotion and remains open to critical reflection itself.
How should we read Hume in the twenty-first century knowing that he viewed all women and nonwhite people as inferior?
a. We can recognize him as a product of his time and still recognize his philosophical genius.
b. We should use his work to train ourselves to better recognize sexism and racism, and then abandon him.
c. We should seriously consider what led him to those beliefs, not rejecting ideas just because they might make us uncomfortable.
d. We can use his own methods of examining experience, in a more inclusive way, to point out the limitations of his own ideas.
d. We can use his own methods of examining experience, in a more inclusive way, to point out the limitations of his own ideas.
