Exam 1 questions Flashcards
Galileo claimed that these qualities were irrelevant to scientific inquiry
secondary
This technical, philosophical term refers to theories of knowledge, or, of how we know what we claim to know
epistemology
The view that, fundamentally, and as opposed to dualism, there is only one kind of substance
monism
The “allegory of the cave” is associated with this “analogy” of Plato’s
analogy of the divided line
The idea that explanations should always be kept as parsimonious as possible is also known as this, after William of Occam
Occam’s Razor
This Egyptian astronomer claimed the sun revolved around the Earth
Ptolemy
This pre-Socratic philosopher argued that the basic substance of reality was water
Thales
As opposed to rationalism, this philosophical position argues that knowledge is acquired from one’s senses and through observation
empiricism
According to Popper, this distinguishes a scientific theory from a nonscientific theory
falsifiability
This form of “determinism” refers to the idea that there are no causes for much of human behavior
non-determinism
This general period of time, after the “Dark Ages”, is generally regarded as the period responsible for the advent of modern science
Enlightenment
Sometimes, it is difficult to determine how much of Plato’s philosophy was actually his as opposed to this other philosopher, Plato’s mentor
Socrates
Locke used this term to define an aspect of a physical object that produces an idea
Quality
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
Zeno
Descartes suggested that these physical movements were caused by “animal spirits” activated by sensory stimulation
reflexes
Contrary to Descartes, British empiricism claimed that the human mind contains none of these types of ideas
innate ideas
According to Descartes, this was the area in the brain where mental “substance” and body “substance” interacted
pineal gland
A scientific theory must possess this quality, in the sense that it must be useful in making predictions in other domains
utility
For Kant, our psychological intuitions of space and time were the two parts of this “faculty”
faculty of intuition
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
blindsight
According to David Hume, what is demonstrative (analytic) knowledge?
a priori knowledge
In what way is Descartes’ metaphysical system dualistic?
Descartes believed the mind to be one entity and the body to be another; hence, dualism in that they were two separate entities
What are the four ontological stages in Plato’s analogy of the divided line?
images, objects, forms, concepts
Name and define the two types of “ideas” described by John Locke
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)
What is a posteriori knowledge?
knowledge gained following experience or observation, also known as synthetic or empirical knowledge
Name two of Kant’s “Categories of Understanding” and give one example of each
Quality- limitation, negation, reality
Quantity- plurality, totality, unity
Relation- cause/effect, active/passive
Modality- existence/non-existence, necessity
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?
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
According to Newton, teleological explanations are unacceptable. What are teleological explanations?
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
What is parsimony?
when presented with a number of explanations for the same phenomenon, the explanation that makes the fewest assumptions should be accepted
What did Descartes argue was the one thing he could know with absolute certainty? [cogito ergo sum]
Descartes knew he was a thinking thing and that he thought, therefore he was
