practice Q week 3

Question 1

“A month is a time period of approximately one lunar cycle.” This is…

a. An extensional definition
b. An intensional definition
c. A synthetic statement

Answer 1

b. An intensional definition

Question 2

“A month is any of the following: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.” This is…
a. An intensional definition
b. A synthetic statement
c. An extensional definition

Answer 2

c. An extensional definition

Question 3

According to Popper, the statement “All swans are white” is…
a. Unscientific
b. Falsifiable
c. Unfalsifiable

Answer 3

b. Falsifiable

Question 4

According to Popper researchers need to…
a. make the empirical content of a theory as large as possible and then try to verify it
b. make the empirical content of a theory as large as possible and then try to falsify it
c. make the empirical content of a theory as small as possible and then try to falsify it

Answer 4

b. make the empirical content of a theory as large as possible and then try to falsify it

Question 5

Which of the following statements is the easiest to falsify (all other things being equal)?
a. I will get a sufficient grade for the Philosophy of Science exam
b. I will get a grade above six for the exam of Philosophy of Science
c. I will get a nine for the exam of Philosophy of Science

Answer 5

c. I will get a nine for the exam of Philosophy of Science

Question 6

Which of the following reasons was NOT a reason for Popper to reject induction as a valid form of scientific inference?

a. The number of observations supporting any general theory will always be too small to confirm a theory
b. As a matter of principle, a general theory can never be refuted by observational evidence.
c. To strive for the strongest degree empirical confirmation for any general theory will lead to knowledge that says very little about world.

Answer 6

b. As a matter of principle, a general theory can never be refuted by observational evidence.

Question 7

Which of the following statements best describes the rationalist element in Popper’s critical rationalism?

a. Popper argues that we shall empirically test the theories as sharply as possible.
Correct!
b. Popper argues that we shall use our active thinking to develop theories that say as much as possible about reality.
c. Popper argues that observation is always theory infected.

Answer 7

b. Popper argues that we shall use our active thinking to develop theories that say as much as possible about reality.

Question 8

According to the Quine-Duhem thesis, we can….

a. Only falsify a theory, but never confirm a theory
b. Make no distinction between facts and values
c. Never be certain that a theory is true or false

Answer 8

c. Never be certain that a theory is true or false

Question 9

Popper argues that falsification rather than verification should be the criterion with which we distinguish scientific knowledge. However, falsification also meets the same problem as verification. This is because Popper neglects the fact that whenever facts turn up that falsify a theory, there are more than one way to solve this issue. Which of the following is NOT among the options for solving the issue when there is a new observation that contradicts with the existing theory?

a. Abandon both the existing theory and the new observation
b. Disqualify the new observation
c. Reinterpret the new observation
d. Adjust our existing theory

Answer 9

a. Abandon both the existing theory and the new observation

Question 10

Which of the following answers gives the best description of a search light theory?

a. The number of cases observed divided by the number of all possible cases.
b. Observations are always infected by theory.
c. Observational language is the main reason for the induction problem.

Answer 10

b. Observations are always infected by theory.