exam

Question 1

Why does Descartes introduce the possibility of an “evil genius” who deceives us in all
things?

Answer 1

to strengthen his method of doubt, proposing a hypothetical scenario where a malicious deceiver could manipulate our perceptions, pushing us to question the certainty of anything perceived through the senses.

Question 2

What is Descartes’s cognitive defect doubt?

Answer 2

Descartes’s “cognitive defect” doubt refers to the possibility that our cognitive faculties themselves could be flawed or defective, leading us to make erroneous judgments about the external world.

Question 3

Would Descartes allow that, even under the conditions of radical doubt, I can recognize
“I am” from the fact that I am walking?

Answer 3

Descartes would argue that under conditions of radical doubt, the act of walking itself cannot be certainly known; however, the fact that “I am thinking” about walking confirms the indubitable existence of oneself as a thinking entity (“I am”).

Question 4

What is Descartes’s cogito argument? Does it involve an inference?

Answer 4

Descartes’s cogito argument posits “I think, therefore I am” (Cogito, ergo sum). It is not a formal inference but a self-evident realization that occurs when doubting one’s own existence; the very act of doubting confirms the existence of a thinking self.

Question 4

5. Consider the idea of a tree and the idea of a mind. Which would Descartes say has more
   objective reality? Which has more formal reality? Why?

Answer 4

The idea of a tree has more FORMAL reality because it is a finite substance that exists in the external world and the idea of a mind has more OBJECTIVE reality because it exists in the realm of consciousness and represents something infinite like God.

Question 5

What is Descartes’s trademark argument? What role does it play in the overall structure of the Meditations?

Answer 5

Descartes’s trademark argument posits that our innate idea of God, being perfect and infinite, must come from a similarly perfect and infinite source—God himself. This argument serves to prove God’s existence and is central to establishing a foundation for true knowledge in the “Meditations.”

Question 5

What is an argument Descartes offers for dualism, i.e., the “real distinction” of mind and
body?

Answer 5

Descartes argues for dualism by stating the mind and body have different essential properties: the mind is indivisible and thinking, while the body is divisible and non-thinking, establishing their “real distinction.”

Question 6

What are the three “primitive notions” that Descartes appeals to in his response to Princess Elisabeth?

Answer 6

Descartes’s three “primitive notions” include the notions of mind, body, and their union, which he uses to explain the nature of human experience and interaction between mind and body.

Question 6

What role does Descartes give to the pineal gland?

Answer 6

Descartes assigns the pineal gland the role of the principal seat of the soul, where it directs bodily motions and sensations by interfacing between the immaterial mind and the mechanical body.

Question 7

What is Princess Elisabeth’s most significant challenge to Descartes’s philosophy?

Answer 7

Princess Elisabeth challenges Descartes by questioning how an immaterial mind can causally interact with a physical body, pressing on the difficulties in explaining the interaction between mental and physical substances.

Question 8

Describe Hume’s example of the “missing shade of blue.” Why does he introduce this
example?

Answer 8

Hume introduces the “missing shade of blue” to show that even if someone has never experienced a particular shade of blue, they could potentially conceive it by imagining a gradation between shades, challenging his own empirical philosophy that all ideas derive from sensory experiences.

Question 9

How does Hume distinguish between relations of ideas and matters of fact?

Answer 9

Hume distinguishes relations of ideasas truths that are found through reason, like mathematics amd matters of fact are truths known through experience, like the sun rising tomorrow.

Question 10

What are Hume’s three principles of association? Give an example of each.

Answer 10

Hume’s three principles of association are resemblance (a portrait reminding us of the person), contiguity (thinking of the kitchen when in the living room), and cause or effect (hearing a crash and thinking of a car accident).

Question 10

Hume says: “[E]xperimental conclusions [concerning causes and effects] proceed upon the supposition, that the future will be conformable to the past. To endeavour, therefore, the proof of this last supposition by probable arguments, or arguments regarding existence, must be evidently going in a circle, and taking that for granted, which is the very point in question” (EU 4.19). Explain.

Answer 10

Hume argues that we cannot justify the assumption that the future will resemble the past through reasoning or experience, as doing so would assume the very principle under question—uniformity of nature.

Question 11

Does Hume think that it is irrational to believe that, say, a fire will cause smoke?

Answer 11

It is not irrational if such belief is based on experience, however it is irrational to rely on causation to be absolutely certain there is a fire.

Question 12

How does Hume think we acquire the idea of necessity (for example, when we think the
fire necessitates the smoke it causes)?

Answer 12

Through experience. He suggests that we acquire the idea of necessity through a conjunction of events. Our expectation that one event (fire) necessitates the other (smoke).

Question 13

What is Hume’s definition of ‘cause’?

Answer 13

An object followed by another object and whose appearance always conveys the thought to that other

Question 14

Does Hume allow that we can infer a cause from the observation of a unique effect? Why or why not?

Answer 14

Hume allows it only through the habit or custom of associating similar effects with similar causes, not through rational deduction.

Question 15

Kant says: “For enlightenment … all that is needed is freedom.” Explain.

Answer 15

Kant believed that the freedom to reason and to intellectualize within the public allows enlightenment to be achieved.

Question 16

A blind person tries to pay for a coffee with a $100 bill, thinking mistakenly that it is a $5 bill. The barista, who prides themself on always being fair to their customers, points out the error to the blind customer, rather than pocketing the $95 for themself. According to Kant, does their action have moral worth?

Answer 16

According to Kant, the barista’s action has moral worth because they acted from duty, not self-interest. They respected the moral law by choosing to do the right thing regardless of their personal gain.

Question 17

What is Kant’s categorical imperative?

Answer 17

Kant’s categorical imperative is a moral principle that actions should follow the moral law, and that it should be a universal rule that everyone could rationally will to follow.

Question 18

In what sense does Wollstonecraft think women are similar to military officers?

Answer 18

Wollstonecraft compares women to military officers because she believes both are kept from reaching their full potential by society’s unfair rules. She says they’re taught to focus on pleasing others rather than developing themselves.

Question 19

How does Wollstonecraft differ from Hume in her appeal to the association of ideas?

Answer 19

Wollstonecraft differs from Hume in her critique of the association of ideas, arguing that society often associates women’s capabilities with their physical appearance rather than their rational potential, which she challenges.

Question 20

Why does Wollstonecraft think that a marriage based on friendship is better than one based on love?

Answer 20

Wollstonecraft believes that a marriage based on friendship is superior because it is founded on mutual respect and intellectual companionship, rather than brief emotional or physical attractions.

Question 21

For Nietzsche, which comes first, ‘good’ or ‘evil’?

Answer 21

For Nietzsche, ‘good’ originally defined the noble and powerful, while ‘evil’ was used later by the weak to label those who oppressed them, thus ‘good’ conceptually precedes ‘evil.’

Question 22

What does Nietzsche mean when he says: “For just as common people separate the
lightning from its flash and take the latter as a doing, as an effect of a subject called
lightning, so popular morality also separates strength from the expression of strength as if
there were behind the strong an indifferent substratum that is free to express strength – or not to”?

Answer 22

Nietzsche means that morality wrongly separates the quality of strength from the actions it produces, implying there is a neutral background that could choose to act differently, which denies the inherent power and impulsiveness in strong actions.

Question 22

How does Nietzsche understand the “sovereign individual”?

Answer 22

Nietzsche’s “sovereign individual” is one who transcends the moral prejudices of their time, creating their own values and living autonomously and deliberately.

Question 23

What does Nietzsche mean by a ‘genealogy’ of a concept?

Answer 23

Nietzsche uses ‘genealogy’ to trace the historical and cultural origins of concepts, showing how values and ideas evolve, often in response to power dynamics rather than inherent truths.

Question 24

What is Ayer’s verificationist criterion?

Answer 24

Ayer’s verificationist criterion posits that a statement is meaningful only if it can be empirically verified or is tautological (true by definition).

Question 25

How does Ayer’s critique of metaphysics differ from Ryle’s?

Answer 25

Ayer’s critique of metaphysics is that it contains statements that cannot be empirically verified, thus they are meaningless. Ryle, differently, critiques metaphysics by identifying category mistakes in its theories, like treating abstract concepts as physical entities.

Question 26

What is a “category mistake”? Give an example.

Answer 26

A “category mistake” occurs when things belonging to a certain category are presented as if they belong to a different category. For example, asking “What does the color blue taste like?” misplaces sensory qualities.

Question 27

Why does Beauvoir think that when we devote ourselves to someone we tyrannize them?

Answer 27

Beauvoir argues that devoting ourselves to someone tends to tyrannize them by imposing our will onto them, rather than allowing them to pursue their own freedom and projects.

Question 28

What does Beauvoir mean by saying “[t]he error of Kantian ethics is to have claimed to
make an abstraction of our own presence in the world”?

Answer 28

Beauvoir criticizes Kantian ethics for ignoring our situatedness in the world, which involves our relationships and emotional attachments that influence our ethical decisions

Question 29

Fanon says that the “Manichaeanism of the colonist produces a Manichaeanism of the
colonized.” Explain.

Answer 29

Fanon describes how colonial rule imposes a binary worldview on both colonizer and colonized, each viewing the other as fundamentally opposite and enemy, thus perpetuating conflict and resistance.

Question 30

Why does Fanon think that the “violence of the colonized … unifies the people”?

Answer 30

Fanon believes that collective violence against the oppressive colonial system serves to unify the colonized, giving them a shared purpose and identity in their struggle for liberation.