exam 1

Question 1

Define the concept of worldview in your own words

Answer 1

worldview is a set of assumptions and understandings that people commit to. This affects how people understand and interpret reality. Someone’s worldview will also shapes the way they behave and think.

Question 2

what are the six main elements that all worldview must explain? List with brief explanation.

Answer 2

• Ultimate reality )nature or existence of the divine)
• Nature of the universe (relationship between physical universe and ultimate reality)
• Human nature (what it means to be human and how we relate to the universe)
• Knowledge (How we receive knowledge)
• Ethics (There is right and wrong)
• Ultimate purpose (what is purpose for people)

Question 3

briefly reflect on your own personal commitments with respect to the basic worldview components listed above

Answer 3

I associate with a typical Christian worldview and believe there is one perfect God. The world is open to spiritual influence, and both earth and humans were created by God. The Bible is where my knowledge and ethics come from. God gave me a purpose in life, and I should be spreading his love to everyone

Question 4

describe the pre-modern worldview family

Answer 4

myth and legend form basis of cosmological views, supernatural worldview, gods centered, sacred writings, provide guidance

Question 5

describe the modern world

Answer 5

Scientific and rational thinking establish truth, mechanistic worldview, humanity is central, reason and scientific discovery lead to progress

Question 6

Describe the postmodern worldview family

Answer 6

no absolute truth, truth is relative, all knowledge is subjective, subjective truth is lived out in community, Metanarratives are obsolete

Question 7

what is the coherence test of truth as discussed in class?

Answer 7

is the worldview consistent in terms of all beliefs? contradictions? Inconsistencies?

Question 8

what is the correspondence test of truth as discussed in class?

Answer 8

does worldview provide a cogent explanation of reality? Does it adequately count for available data and personal experience?

Question 9

what is the practical test of truth as discussed class?

Answer 9

can worldview be lived out in daily human life? Do common experiences support it? Does it have a broader or universal existential appeal?

Question 10

what three disadvantages does Aquinas establish concerning the role of reason and the knowledge of God

Answer 10

• The knowledge of God would be confined, because humans can’t understand it
• finding the truth would take humans a long time/they wouldn’t want to go through the whole process.
• There is error in human reason, and it would be impacted by their own perceptions.

Question 11

How does aquinas concept of negative differentiation help us to define God

Answer 11

we can try to comprehend God by knowing what he is not

Question 12

What is analogical predication according to aquinus?

Answer 12

humans explaining God in the form of analogies/other things

Question 13

What do univocal and equivocal predication refer to?

Answer 13

univocal is when different words can be used to mean the same context. Equivocal is when the same languages used to mean different things.

Question 14

What does aquinas mean by saying we can only speak of God analogously

Answer 14

?

Question 15

why does Calvin think the knowledge of God and the knowledge of self are intertwined?

Answer 15

God created us so the more you learn about yourself you also learn about God

Question 16

How does Calvin think every human being bears knowledge of God innately

Answer 16

we all naturally have a sense of deity that God instilled in us

Question 17

how does Carl Sagan define naturalism?

Answer 17

“the Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be”

Question 18

how is God viewed in the naturalist worldview?

Answer 18

supernatural does not exist, the idea of God was invented by man

Question 19

How are humans viewed in the naturalist worldview?

Answer 19

humans are biological machines (just matter and reactions determine all we think)

Question 20

How does Kurt Vonnegut define being a humanist?

Answer 20

“being a humanist means trying to behave decently without expectation of rewards or punishment after you are dead”

Question 21

how does John Lennon song imagine capture the main tenants of secular humanism?

Answer 21

there is no heaven or religion, and everyone lives in peace

Question 22

how does Jean Paul Sartre define atheistic existentialism?

Answer 22

“atheistic existentialism declares with greater consistency that if God does not exist, there is at least one being who’s existence comes before it’s essence, a being which exists before it can be defined by any conception of it. That being is man or, as Hediger has it, the human reality”

Question 23

what does Albert Camus the myth of Sisyphus say about the absurdity of human nature?

Answer 23

“The workmen of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is tragic only at the rare moments when it becomes conscious.”

Question 24

theism

Answer 24

belief in the existence of a supreme reality

Question 25

atheism

Answer 25

There is no supreme reality

Question 26

deism

Answer 26

The creation provides proof of an otherwise unknowable deity

Question 27

agnosticism

Answer 27

Knowing if God exists is impossible

Question 28

monotheism

Answer 28

The existence of one divine reality

Question 29

Polytheism

Answer 29

The existence of many divine realities

Question 30

pantheism

Answer 30

all is God and God is in all

Question 31

naturalism

Answer 31

science
All beings and events in the universe are natural

Question 32

Secular humanism

Answer 32

humans are capable of being ethical and moral without religion or a deity

Question 33

Atheistic existentialism

Answer 33

no religion and no reason to keep moral values