Exam 1 questions

Question 1

Galileo claimed that these qualities were irrelevant to scientific inquiry

Answer 1

secondary

Question 2

This technical, philosophical term refers to theories of knowledge, or, of how we know what we claim to know

Answer 2

epistemology

Question 3

The view that, fundamentally, and as opposed to dualism, there is only one kind of substance

Answer 3

monism

Question 4

The “allegory of the cave” is associated with this “analogy” of Plato’s

Answer 4

analogy of the divided line

Question 5

The idea that explanations should always be kept as parsimonious as possible is also known as this, after William of Occam

Answer 5

Occam’s Razor

Question 6

This Egyptian astronomer claimed the sun revolved around the Earth

Answer 6

Ptolemy

Question 7

This pre-Socratic philosopher argued that the basic substance of reality was water

Answer 7

Thales

Question 8

As opposed to rationalism, this philosophical position argues that knowledge is acquired from one’s senses and through observation

Answer 8

empiricism

Question 9

According to Popper, this distinguishes a scientific theory from a nonscientific theory

Answer 9

falsifiability

Question 10

This form of “determinism” refers to the idea that there are no causes for much of human behavior

Answer 10

non-determinism

Question 11

This general period of time, after the “Dark Ages”, is generally regarded as the period responsible for the advent of modern science

Answer 11

Enlightenment

Question 12

Sometimes, it is difficult to determine how much of Plato’s philosophy was actually his as opposed to this other philosopher, Plato’s mentor

Answer 12

Socrates

Question 13

Locke used this term to define an aspect of a physical object that produces an idea

Answer 13

Quality

Question 14

The “paradox” described by this pre-Socratic Greek philosopher claimed to show that, for example, someone couldn’t touch a table because they would have to move towards it halfway an infinite number of times

Answer 14

Zeno

Question 15

Descartes suggested that these physical movements were caused by “animal spirits” activated by sensory stimulation

Answer 15

reflexes

Question 16

Contrary to Descartes, British empiricism claimed that the human mind contains none of these types of ideas

Answer 16

innate ideas

Question 17

According to Descartes, this was the area in the brain where mental “substance” and body “substance” interacted

Answer 17

pineal gland

Question 18

A scientific theory must possess this quality, in the sense that it must be useful in making predictions in other domains

Answer 18

utility

Question 19

For Kant, our psychological intuitions of space and time were the two parts of this “faculty”

Answer 19

faculty of intuition

Question 20

This is the name given to the rare condition where a person can see things but isn’t aware that he or she can see things; is not conscious of seeing

Answer 20

blindsight

Question 21

According to David Hume, what is demonstrative (analytic) knowledge?

Answer 21

a priori knowledge

Question 22

In what way is Descartes’ metaphysical system dualistic?

Answer 22

Descartes believed the mind to be one entity and the body to be another; hence, dualism in that they were two separate entities

Question 23

What are the four ontological stages in Plato’s analogy of the divided line?

Answer 23

images, objects, forms, concepts

Question 24

Name and define the two types of “ideas” described by John Locke

Answer 24

simple ideas are ideas that cannot be broken down (e.g.: red)
complex ideas are ideas that are composites of many simple ones (e.g.: dog is black, furry, big)

Question 25

What is a posteriori knowledge?

Answer 25

knowledge gained following experience or observation, also known as synthetic or empirical knowledge

Question 26

Name two of Kant’s “Categories of Understanding” and give one example of each

Answer 26

Quality- limitation, negation, reality
Quantity- plurality, totality, unity
Relation- cause/effect, active/passive
Modality- existence/non-existence, necessity

Question 27

What are two of the three ways discussed in class that Platonic philosophy was a hindrance to the advancement of a scientific understanding of the world?

Answer 27

1) he created a mind/body dualism which is garbage
2) he claimed the mind (soul) was immortal
3) Platonic philosophy plus early Christians like St. Augustine created an unchallengeable religious dogma

Question 28

According to Newton, teleological explanations are unacceptable. What are teleological explanations?

Answer 28

Explanations indicating that an aspect of nature has a purpose. Nature is not purposive, it simply is. An example of a teleological explanation is that it rains because it makes the plants grow or that rocks are pointy so that animals can scratch their backs

Question 29

What is parsimony?

Answer 29

when presented with a number of explanations for the same phenomenon, the explanation that makes the fewest assumptions should be accepted

Question 30

What did Descartes argue was the one thing he could know with absolute certainty? [cogito ergo sum]

Answer 30

Descartes knew he was a thinking thing and that he thought, therefore he was