Chapter 9: The Rationalist: Rene Descartes Flashcards
(25 cards)
The distinction in philosophy between rationalism and empiricism is about which method is most effective for knowledge. Which of the following best characterizes a rationalist method of obtaining knowledge?
a. Through experience
b. Through abstract reasoning
c. Through memories
d. Through the testimony of others
b. Through abstract reasoning
Why is René Descartes the quintessential archetype of a rationalist?
a. Because like an ant, he simply accumulated and used his own experience to derive knowledge
b. Because he was a dualist
c. Because he used reason alone through introspection to think about thinking and was one of the first to posit this method of deriving knowledge
d. Because he had many sycophants called the Cartesians, and he was their leader
c. Because he used reason alone through introspection to think about thinking and was one of the first to posit this method of deriving knowledge
What is an a priori truth?
a. A posteriori knowledge
b. A fact that can only be known after extensive empirical research and experimentation, such as the boiling point of water or the laws of motion
c. Truth derived from experience
d. Certainty derived from reason
d. Certainty derived from reason
What does the Latin phrase cogito ergo sum mean?
a. I doubt, therefore I may be wrong.
b. Whatever we think is true is true.
c. What can be seen clearly is true.
d. I think, therefore I am.
d. I think, therefore I am.
How does the evil genius hypothesis that Descartes postulates relate to his method of doubt?
a. It helps him establish the reality of the physical world.
b. It strengthens his belief in sensory experiences.
c. It supports his arguments for innate ideas.
d. It is used to question the certainty of all his beliefs.
d. It is used to question the certainty of all his beliefs.
In the first meditation, why does Descartes doubt all of his previous knowledge? In another way, what is he hoping for by rethinking what he thought he knew?
a. He is looking for certainty, foundational knowledge that he can build on.
b. He realized that he had lived a life of being lied to by everyone.
c. He wants to critically think for himself without inheriting any beliefs from others.
d. He knew that the body and material things existed but he was uncertain about his own mind.
a. He is looking for certainty, foundational knowledge that he can build on.
In the third meditation, Descartes recognizes that he has an idea of perfection embodied in the concept of God. Because there is no example of true perfection in his experience of life, where did this idea come from?
a. The evil genius is deceiving him again.
b. It came from someone who has less formal reality than he does.
c. God put it there.
d. His mind conjured it up just like the evil genius.
c. God put it there.
What is an innate idea, according to Descartes?
a. Ideas accessible only through divine revelation and religious teachings
b. Something that exists in the mind independently from experiences, like God and the self
c. Concepts learned through extensive education and experience
d. Memories of past experiences that we unconsciously recall
b. Something that exists in the mind independently from experiences, like God and the self
In the fifth meditation, which of the following does Descartes claim about the idea of God?
a. The idea of God must include the concept of existence as part of its essence.
b. The idea of God can be imagined but not clearly understood.
c. The idea of God cannot fully be grasped by finite beings.
d. The idea of God is based on empirical evidence from the world.
a. The idea of God must include the concept of existence as part of its essence.
What does the term ontological argument refer to in philosophy?
a. An argument that denies the possibility of proving God’s existence
b. An argument attempting to prove the existence of God based on the concept or definition of God
c. An argument that uses empirical observations to argue for the existence of God
d. An argument based on the physical evidence of the universe
b. An argument attempting to prove the existence of God based on the concept or definition of God
Who is credited with a similar ontological argument before Descartes?
a. Immanuel Kant
b. St. Anselm
c. Thomas Aquinas
d. David Hume
b. St. Anselm
What does Descartes think he can exist without?
a. The mind
b. The body
c. God
d. Innate ideas
b. The body
Why is Descartes’s dualism—the separation of the mind and body—so important to his overall project?
a. Because Descartes aimed to show that scientific inquiry should focus exclusively on the mind and ignore the physical body
b. Because Descartes wanted to prove that the mind and body are identical and inseparable
c. Because Descartes’s goal was to demonstrate that only the physical body exists, and the mind is an illusion
d. Because with the separation of mind and body, science and religion can exist together given they explain different phenomena
d. Because with the separation of mind and body, science and religion can exist together given they explain different phenomena
What is the best explanation of Cartesian dualism?
a. Cartesian dualism is the doctrine that there are two kinds of physical matter: solid and liquid. The mind is liquid, and the body is solid.
b. The mind (soul) and body are distinct substances. The soul can live on past the body; the body is governed by the laws of physics, whereas the mind is free.
c. Cartesian dualism is the view that the mind can only be understood through empirical scientific methods, whereas the body is understood through introspection.
d. Cartesian dualism asserts that God and humans are made of the same spiritual substance.
b. The mind (soul) and body are distinct substances. The soul can live on past the body; the body is governed by the laws of physics, whereas the mind is free.
What unites the mind and the body according to Descartes?
a. Hunger, thirst, and pain
b. The sailor who is captain of the ship
c. God
d. The pineal gland
d. The pineal gland
How does Susan Bordo link Cartesian dualism to the oppression and subordination of women?
a. Cartesian dualism sees women as rational rather than relational, which denies their experiences as embodied women.
b. Women are naturally subordinate in Descartes’s project because only men have a pineal gland.
c. She thinks Descartes helped subordinate women through his religious views where the biblical Adam created Eve from his rib.
d. She thinks that Cartesian dualism doesn’t reflect or include women because they are subjected to experiences of the body, whereas men are reflected or seen as rational—as minds.
d. She thinks that Cartesian dualism doesn’t reflect or include women because they are subjected to experiences of the body, whereas men are reflected or seen as rational—as minds.
According to Bordo, what came out of modernity that was positive for women?
a. Women such as Evelyn Keller Fox, Carol Gilligan, Nancy Chodorow, and Susan Harding, who adopted the thought of Cartesian dualism, furthered Descartes’s project in the contemporary world.
b. Modernity resulted in a feminist critique of science by Evelyn Keller Fox, Carol Gilligan, Nancy Chodorow, and Susan Harding that questions masculinization in the development of “science.”
c. With women on board to verify the masculine thoughts of the past, we can have a new frontier of rational thought that includes women.
d. Susan Bordo was the first to read Descartes with a feminist lens; seeing his letters with Queen Elizabeth helped her argue for a feminist interpretation of Descartes.
b. Modernity resulted in a feminist critique of science by Evelyn Keller Fox, Carol Gilligan, Nancy Chodorow, and Susan Harding that questions masculinization in the development of “science.”
What is the “Cartesian fantasy”?
a. It is Gilbert Ryle’s criticism of Descartes. Ryle’s critique centers on the idea that dualism commits a category mistake by misclassifying the nature of mental states. Instead of viewing the mind as a separate entity, Ryle suggested that mental states should be understood in terms of behaviors and dispositions, integrated with physical processes.
b. It refers to the “ghost in the machine.” According to Descartes, the mind (the “ghost”) resides in and controls the body (the “machine”).
c. It is the idea that when separated from the body, you can only then separate your material desires and find nirvana. The body weighs us down, and so through the abstraction of the Cartesian fantasy we can meditate like Descartes to find truth.
d. It is the possibility of pure objectivity—a delusion that pure objectivity is obtainable with sophisticated, rational, scientific effort.
d. It is the possibility of pure objectivity—a delusion that pure objectivity is obtainable with sophisticated, rational, scientific effort.
What role does “clear and distinctness” play in Descartes’s search for truth?
a. It serves as a principle for doubting all forms of knowledge, including clear and distinct ideas.
b. It refers to Descartes’s belief that only sensory perceptions can provide clear and distinct truths.
c. Descartes appeals to clear and distinct knowing as the ultimate standard to be used in accepting or rejecting ideas.
d. It indicates the ideas that Descartes finds most aesthetically pleasing and intellectually satisfying.
c. Descartes appeals to clear and distinct knowing as the ultimate standard to be used in accepting or rejecting ideas.
What type of knowledge is used to determine that the sky is blue?
a. A posteriori
b. A priori
c. Scientific fact
d. Methodic
a. A posteriori
Why is rationalism important in the history of philosophy?
a. Rationalism is important because it maintains that knowledge of the world can only be obtained through mystical and supernatural experiences.
b. Rationalism is important because it asserts that only religious faith and divine revelation can provide true knowledge.
c. Because reason, which is the rationalist’s method, can help distinguish reality from illusion and it gives meaning to experience.
d. Rationalism is significant because it rejects the use of logic and mathematics in philosophical inquiry, favoring emotional and intuitive understanding.
c. Because reason, which is the rationalist’s method, can help distinguish reality from illusion and it gives meaning to experience.
Why did Descartes also write in French instead of only Latin, even though Latin was the universal language of scholars?
a. Because the French were more open to methodic doubt, whereas in Latin most of the readers would have been Catholic, and they were not open to that sort of doubting of God.
b. He wrote in French to reach a wider audience, to include all people not just scholars and religious folks.
c. He wrote in French because people who spoke French were more skilled in mathematics. And because he used methods and principles of mathematicians, he thought he would include an audience who could understand.
d. He wrote in French because he didn’t speak or write in Latin. French was his native tongue.
b. He wrote in French to reach a wider audience, to include all people not just scholars and religious folks.
How does Descartes use the example of dreams to challenge the reliability of sensory perceptions?
a. By demonstrating that dreams are completely separate from our waking experiences
b. By arguing that sensory perceptions in dreams are always accurate
c. By concluding that dreams offer a more reliable source of knowledge than waking experiences
d. By suggesting that sensory perceptions can be as vivid and detailed in dreams as in waking life
d. By suggesting that sensory perceptions can be as vivid and detailed in dreams as in waking life
How does Descartes prove God’s existence through reason?
a. Descartes uses the principle that everything in the universe is in motion and must have been set in motion by an unmoved mover, which he identifies as God.
b. Descartes argues that God’s existence is evident through the perfection of nature and the harmonious order of the universe, which cannot be explained without a divine creator.
c. Descartes claims that the overwhelming feelings of awe and wonder we experience when contemplating the universe are direct evidence of God’s existence.
d. Through his causal argument: The existence of the idea of a perfect being per Descartes implies the existence of an actual perfect being (God) who caused this idea.
d. Through his causal argument: The existence of the idea of a perfect being per Descartes implies the existence of an actual perfect being (God) who caused this idea.
