Module 5 - Foundations Of Western Philosophy: Foundations Of Modern Metaphysics And Empiricism

Question 1

True or False: “Why are certain insects attracted to flowers in bloom” is an example of an observation/question?

Answer 1

true

Question 2

True or False: A hypothesis is a conjecture, based on knowledge obtained while formulating the question, that may explain any given phenomenon or behavior.

Answer 2

true

Question 3

Based on the question and hypothesis, a scientist or researcher will make a __________ that deduces the logical consequences of the hypothesis before the outcome is known. The prediction is a result you’d expect to get if your hypothesis or theory is accurate.

Answer 3

prediction

Question 4

Experimentation/Testing: In this step, the scientist must develop suitable tests or experiments to ​​produce actual results that can be compared to the predicted results based on the _______.

Answer 4

hypothesis

Question 5

After testing is complete, the collected results are analyzed and compared to the predicted results based on the hypothesis. The difference between expected results versus actual results will _______ or ________ the hypothesis and determine net steps in the process. As part of the data analysis step, evidence for other scientists or researchers may be incorporated.

Answer 5

validate, invalidate

Question 6

According to Descartes, a belief can count as knowledge even if there is a slight chance it is wrong.

Answer 6

false

Question 7

Why does Descartes initially think we must distrust our internal reasonings?

Answer 7

An evil demon could be manipulating our thoughts.

Question 8

What is the name of the view according to which certain knowledge is unattainable and our epistemic lives are hopeless?

Answer 8

Cartesian Skepticism

Question 9

Just when it seems Descartes has proved nothing at all can be known for certain, what famous declaration does he make?

Answer 9

“I think, therefore I am”

Question 10

After doubting everything, Descartes thinks we can rebuild our knowledge upon the solid foundation of what?

Answer 10

clear and distinct perception

Question 11

what is materialism?

Answer 11

The view that the universe is solely composed of physical, tangible, spatially extended objects

Question 12

Hobbes was a determinist.

Answer 12

true

Question 13

what is determinism?

Answer 13

The view that nothing happens in the universe by chance. All events are the necessary consequence of antecedent causes

Question 14

what is egotism?

Answer 14

The view that humans, by nature, always seek some personal gain when acting voluntarily

Question 15

As egotists, preprogrammed to pursue their personal desires, what three specific things do humans desire, according to Hobbes?

Answer 15

power, honor, and self preservation

Question 16

For Locke, what were the two modes of experience?

Answer 16

sensation and reflection

Question 17

John Locke was a fierce critic of materialism.

Answer 17

false

Question 18

Locke believed that at birth the human mind was _________.

Answer 18

a blank slate

Question 19

John Locke was a proponent of indirect realism.

Answer 19

true

Question 20

what is an innate idea?

Answer 20

An idea that all people have from birth and need not be taught

Question 21

According to epistemologists, what (at the least) is knowledge?

Answer 21

a justified, true belief

Question 22

Epistemic justification is not a necessary condition for knowledge.

Answer 22

false

Question 23

what is a priori justification?

Answer 23

A type of justification which we achieve via an internal process.

Question 24

what is a posteriori justification?

Answer 24

A type of justification we achieve wholly externally.

Question 25

Intuition is a source of a posteriori justification.

Answer 25

false

Question 26

Knowledge is attainable through clear and distinct perception alone. So, we should only make judgments on some subject when we are sure that our perception of the subject is clear and distinct, and withhold judgment otherwise. But how can we ever be absolutely sure that our perception is clear and distinct, given we are fallible reasoners?

Answer 26

God, being incapable of deceiving us, will guarantee that any time we think our perception is clear and distinct, it is.

Question 27

What kind of argument does Descartes give for God’s existence?

Answer 27

an ontological argument

Question 28

According to Descartes, the universe is composed of two fundamental substances. What are they?

Answer 28

mind and matter

Question 29

Many of Descartes’ contemporaries were materialists. What do materialists believe?

Answer 29

The universe is composed of entirely physical, tangible stuff.

Question 30

Descartes was a dualist. What do dualists believe?

Answer 30

The universe is composed of two fundamental substances, mind and matter.

Question 31

A crucial step in Hobbes’ political philosophy is a discussion of the state of nature. What is the state of nature?

Answer 31

A thought experiment in which humans are imagined to exist with no government powers regulating their behavior whatsoever

Question 32

According to Hobbes, people in the state of nature possess natural liberty. What is natural liberty?

Answer 32

The power to take and defend whatever resources you can using your own, individual powers.

Question 33

Hobbes famously said that man’s life in the state of nature would be…..

Answer 33

nasty, brutish, and short

Question 34

Given life in the state of nature would be so thoroughly miserable, Hobbes ultimately concludes that, to improve their lives, people should agree to surrender all their rights to whom?

Answer 34

an absolute sovereign

Question 35

Once people enter a social contract to surrender their natural liberties, what do they gain in exchange?

Answer 35

civil liberty

Question 36

John Locke was an indirect realist. What is indirect realism?

Answer 36

The view that perception is not direct but rather is mediated by the senses.

Question 37

Locke criticized direct realism as a naive doctrine. What is direct realism?

Answer 37

The view that we perceive objects in the world around us directly, exactly as they are.

Question 38

what is empiricism?

Answer 38

The view that all the mind’s ideas are originally furnished by experience

Question 39

Berkeley espoused idealism. What is idealism?

Answer 39

The idea that reality consists only of ideas

Question 40

Why does Berkeley worry that indirect realism ultimately leads to skepticism?

Answer 40

If we perceive everything indirectly, as mediated by our senses, we cannot verify whether our senses actually provide accurate information.

Question 41

One source of knowledge that rationalists generally accept, and empiricists generally reject, is innate ideas. What is an innate idea?

Answer 41

An idea that all people have from birth and need not be taught

Question 42

Rationalists and empiricists alike generally recognize deduction to be a source of a priori justification. What does it mean to ‘deduce’ something?

Answer 42

To infer, by means of a logical reasoning process that only produces absolutely certain results, that a conclusion is true

Question 43

Which is an example of a posteriori knowledge?

Answer 43

some tigers are white

Question 44

Which is an example of a priori knowledge?

Answer 44

all triangles have three sides

Question 45

what is rationalism?

Answer 45

The view that some specified domain of knowledge – perhaps even all knowledge – can only be gained a priori

Question 46

Which of the following is not one of Newton’s three laws of motion?

Answer 46

An opposite and an equal reaction will always force a body to discontinue itself from rest and/or motion;

Question 47

Newton’s work provided a physical basis for__________________, unified the physics of both celestial and terrestrial bodies into one set of laws, and synthesized two important components of the Scientific Revolution, the mechanical philosophy and the mathematization of nature.

Answer 47

Kepler’s laws of planetary motion

Question 48

The philosophical underpinnings of the Scientific Revolution were laid out by _________ in his Novum Organum (1620), or New Method.

Answer 48

Francis Bacon

Question 49

Rather than focus on known facts and using deduction to produce further understanding, a new breed of philosophers and scientists employed a(n) ____________ to obtain knowledge.

Answer 49

inductive approach

Question 50

Prior to the publication of Nicolas Copernicus’ publication of his mathematical calculations in On the Revolutions of Heavenly Bodies in 1541, the scientific community embraced a ___________ of the universe, stating that the Earth was at the center of the universe and that all celestial objects, including the Sun, revolved around it.

Answer 50

geocentric model