Epistemology

Question 1

what are descartes’ three doubts

Answer 1

1. scepticism about the senses
2. dreaming and reality
3. the evil demon

Question 2

what is the trademark argument

Answer 2

Descartes- he has an idea in his mind of a supremely perfect god. because god is beyond the sensory perceptions, that originates from god himself who places this idea in our minds from birth

Question 3

locke’s quote on ideas

Answer 3

“Experience: in that, all our knowledge is founded; and from that it ultimately derives itself”

Question 4

what is the historical plain method

Answer 4

all our knowledge can in theory be traced back to some experience that we had

Question 5

leibniz on lock?

Answer 5

mind is innately determined to believe some pples over others; Eglin agreed

Question 6

WT Jones on ideas for locke?

Answer 6

Locke reduces complex ideas- surely we see an object as whole and then identify its parts

Question 7

the veil of perception criticism

Answer 7

Pojman: permanent picture gallery: can’t access the objects behind the pictures, dead end to what we know; hume agreed

Question 8

objections to the trademark argument (2)

Answer 8

1. Descartes confuses the idea of god with god himself
2. Cottingham’s sponge cake: made of flour, eggs, etc, but the sponginess in the cake is not contained in its cause
   - -> D responds by saying that the property is contained ‘eminently in a higher form’

Question 9

discuss the idea of causality from an empirical perspective

Answer 9

Locke: we get the idea of causality by observing that some things begin because of others
Peter mark: this is circular, because it presupposes causality before we even make this observation
Hume’s idea is better: causation is the mere observation of constant conjuncture

Question 10

Locke and types of ideas

Answer 10

sensation –>simple ideas

reflection –>complex ideas

Question 11

Locke’s three types of knowledge

Answer 11

intuitive (most certain, immediate), demonstrative (a priori like maths and god), sensitive (sense data, uncertain)

Question 12

name four criticisms of Locke’s ideas

Answer 12

Berkley, Veil of perception, Hume’s missing shade of blue, W.T. Jones, Catherine Elgin

Question 13

name two criticisms of Locke’s tabula rasa

Answer 13

Noam Chomsky, Leibniz

Question 14

Rationalist scholars?

Answer 14

• Descartes (wax) (cogito)
• Leibniz (immaterial ideas)
• Spinoza

Question 15

What does Leibniz argue for the rationalist position?

Answer 15

Since ideas are immaterial, it is unfeasible that we get them through the physical.

Question 16

Cartesian substance dualism?

Answer 16

Persons have an incorporeal soul. Soul is a logical substance possessing none of the attributes of physical substance like divisibility & extension in space.

Question 17

What does Descartes’ epistemology confuse?

What fallacy does it therefore fall into?

Answer 17

His epistemology relies on a confusion over Leibniz’ Law on the Identity of Indiscernibles. It falls foul of the MASKED MAN FALLACY.

• I can doubt that my body exists
• I cannot doubt that I exist
• therefore by Leibniz’ Law I’m not identical with my body

Same as:

• I can doubt that C.Dogson wrote Alice in Wonderland
• I cannot doubt Lewis Carroll wrote Alice & wonderland exists
• therefore Dogson is not one & the same as Lewis Carroll.

Question 18

C.D Broad on The Problem of Induction

Answer 18

‘induction is the glory of science and the scandal of philosophy’

Question 19

What is Hume’s problem of induction?

Answer 19

The lack of justification for generalisations, or presupposing the eventuality of certain events (principle of uniformity of nature).

Question 20

Nelson Goodman’s new riddle of induction

Answer 20

Goodman proposed that some diamonds are ‘grue’ so they are green for many years (time t) until they turn blue. The “new” problem of induction is, since all emeralds we have ever seen are both green and grue, why do we suppose that after time t we will find green but not grue emeralds?

Question 21

Hume’s conclusion on inductive scepticism

Answer 21

Questioning our inductive inferences doesn’t get you anywhere. ‘If the skeptic’s were universally and steadily accepted, all human life would come to an end’ (Hume)

‘Philosophical cop-out by which we all live’ - Matthew Sweet

Question 22

antecedents of John Locke’s argument of the mind as initially tabula rasa ?

Answer 22

Aristotle
Ibn Sina (Avicenna)
Aquinas

Question 23

What two kinds of experience is there?

Answer 23

Sensation and reflection

Question 24

What does sensation tell us about?

Answer 24

The things and processes in the external world

Question 25

What does reflection tell us about?

Answer 25

The operations of our own minds

Question 26

What ideas are innate to some extent?

Answer 26

Time, space, causality, comparison, language

Question 27

What is an inductive argument?

Answer 27

The premises support the probable truth of the conclusion

Question 28

What is a deductive argument

Answer 28

The truth of a deductive argument is guaranteed by the premise

Question 29

How does Catherine Elgin criticise Locke’s idea of the tabula rasa

Answer 29

We don’t start with an empty stage, we have an initial inquiry revised with data.