Midterm Study Guide Flashcards
What is Epistemology?
The theory of knowledge.
What is Metaphysics?
The theory of reality.
What is the literal definition of “Philosophy”?
“the love of knowledge”.
According to Kant, what is Enlightenment?
The maturity to be able to question and challenge authority using one’s own understanding.
What is the difference between Public and Private reason?
Public reason is the ability to question authority and practice free speech.Private reason is the ability to debate with authority, but you must do what is told of you. Like paying taxes or being in the military.
What is the Socratic method?
Answering questions by asking more questions. It forces the student to think critically and virtually come up with the answer themselves.
How is knowledge traditionally defined?
A true, justified, belief of something.
What is the logical problem with global skepticism?
Skeptics believe that: “All knowledge is impossible.” But the issue is that if all knowledge is impossible, how does one know that?
What is Magical Thinking?
Believing in something that completely goes against any reason or logic.
What is the Placebo Effect?
Something that takes place in someones mind and they believe in something that is fake (like a sugar pill will help them).
What is the Nocebo Effect?
Something that takes place in someones mind and they believe that something will hurt them.
What is the Verification Principle?
A proposition is only meaningful if it is analytical.
What is Rationalism?
Knowledge only comes through reason and logic and knowledge cannot come through sense because senses can be flawed.
What is Empiricism?
True knowledge that comes through the senses.
What is an Analytic Statement? Give one example.
A statement that is true in all definitions and will always be true no matter what. Example: A Triangle will always have three sides.
What is a Thought Experiment? Give one example.
An imaginary experiment that is used to cause someone to think about the nature of things. Example: Gettier’s example of Jones and Smith in the job interview.
What is the principle of the uniformity of nature?
The theory that the future will resemble the past. The past will continue to repeat.
What is the old problem of induction?
We cannot predict the future using the past. Circular reasoning will not always be the answer for everything in life.
What is the new problem of induction?
We don’t know which inductive conclusion is the right one to make given a particular set of observations.
What is Hard Determinism?
A form of determinism that teaches that the future is not completely written out because it has not happened yet, but a person’s future is caused by what has happened in their past. No moral responsibility.
What is Compatibilism?
States that a person’s future is completely determined, but we still have enough freedom to be morally responsible for our actions.
What is the difference between predeterminism and hard determinism?
Predeterminism states that our life is a fixed path and that our future is already decided and it is our job to fulfill that path. Hard determinism teaches that our life is not a fixed path and our future is not completely determined because it hasn’t happened yet, but says that when something does happens, it is caused by a person’s past.
What is Metaphysical Freedom?
The power to choose among general choices when one is not constrained by certain outside factors.
What is Theological Determinism?
States that everyone’s future is preordained by a higher power like a god. All the events that happen are already predestined to happen no matter what.
