Study Guide Flashcards
What is a fallacy?
It is an error in logic. A mistaken belief that is based off of unsound ground.
Distinguish between a formal and an informal fallacy.
A formal fallacy has error in form, arrangement, or structure of the argument. Whereas an informal fallacy has error in the meaning of the argument.
Give the names of and a brief description of four informal fallacies.
Argument from ignorance( there is no proof of aliens, therefore aliens do not exist), circular fallacy ( A is true because B is true and B is true because A is true) , Fallacy of composition ( If one person stands up at a game, he can see better, so if they all stand up at the game they can all see better). Middle Ground- Some people claim that God is all powerful, all knowing, and all good. Other people claim that God does not exist at all. Now, it seems reasonable to accept a position somewhere in the middle. So, it is likely that God exists, but that he is only very powerful, very knowing, and very good Strawman-Attacking a weaker form of the argument and claiming to have a defense against its stronger form.
Briefly, what is the ontological argument for the existence of God?
By definition, God is a being that which none greater can be imagined. A being that exists in reality is greater than a being that does not exist. If God exists as an idea and not in reality, then we can imagine something greater than God. But we cannot imagine something greater than God. Therefore, God exists.
Briefly, what is the cosmological argument for the existence of God?
- Everything that exists has a cause of existence.
2. The universe exists.
3. Therefore, the universe has a cause of existence.
4. If the universe has a cause of existence, then that cause is God.
5. Therefore, God exists.
Briefly, what is the argument from design for the existence of God?
- We see that natural bodies work toward some goal, and do not do so by chance.
2. Most natural things lack knowledge. - But as an arrow reaches its target because it is directed by an archer, what lacks intelligence achieves goals by being directed by something intelligence.
- Therefore some intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this being we call God.
Summarize Pascal’s wager .
His wager is that if you believe in God and and God exist, then you have an infinite gain. If you do not believe in God and God does not exist then you have a finite gain. If God does exist and you do not choose to believe, then you suffer an infinite loss. If you do not believe and God doesn’t exist then you suffer a small cost.
Briefly, what is the argument from the existence of evil for the nonexistence of God?
If God is omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent (completely good), then evil would not exist in the world because he would know how to, want to, and be able to eliminate all suffering/evil. Suffering/evil is still a part of life, so God cannot exist.
Briefly, what is Hume’s problem of induction?
Hume asks whether this evidence that we arrive with inductively is actually good evidence. He does not believe that we can use our previous experiences and use them to justify things in the world that we have not justified for ourselves.
What, according to Plato’s dialogue Theatetus, is knowledge?
Knowledge is true judgment plus an “account.”
What does Gettier think he has proved concerning the claim that knowledge is justified true belief?
Justified true belief is not knowledge. Justification is not enough, we need something else to constitute knowledge.
In his Meditation I, what does Descartes say can be doubted, and why?
Almost everything can be doubted and questioned, even our own dreams, conclusions, and perceptions can be questioned. The only things that could potentially not be doubted is geometry and mathematics. Even our senses can be doubted and we must view things through the mind since we know it exists via being capable of thinking it can in fact exist.
In Meditation II, what does Descartes say is better known than the body, and why?
The mind is known better because we are the most conscious of it. Even when are doubting something we are conscious of us doubting and reasons for it as well.
What is the role of “clear and distinct” in Descartes’ philosophy?
Descartes believed that an idea must be clear and distinct in order for it to be truthful. For something to be “clear” it has to be content and precise and for something to be “distinct” it has to be distinguish from another idea.”
What it the point or purpose or conclusion from the wax example in Meditation II?
The conclusion that Descartes came to using the wax example is that we come to know things through intellect rather than through the senses. We know, through our senses that wax is solid and we know that wax can be melted but it is due to our intellect that we connect the two phases of the wax and consider it one.
What are the main or central points of Descartes (alleged) proof for the existence of God in Meditation III?
He uses the efficient argument and said that some of his perceptions and ideas could not have come from him alone but from God. Since he has a clear, distinct perception of God, God must exist. He also stated that if the Mediator could exist without God, then he would have to come to be out of himself or from something less perfect.
In Meditation IV, how does Descartes account for human error?
First he tries to discover where and why he makes errors in judgment. He believes that error is not the lack of true beliefs but having some false beliefs. This is what sets us apart from God as well. He reasons that his own propensity to err must be his own failure to use his method to approach the knowledge sent to him by God.
According to Christopher Grau, what is Hilary Putnam’s response to the brain-in-a-vat hypothesis?
The hypothesis would not work because you can’t be in that state of mind and realize that you are a brain in vat.
According to Grau, what was Robert Nozick’s response to a possible “experience machine”?
He objected it. We want more than to just be hooked up to a box and fed information. We want to be able to question the knowledge that we learn and agree/disagree. We also want contact with the real world.
According to David Hume in his “Of Scepticism With Regard to the Senses,” justification of our belief in the idea of continued existence requires four things. What are they?’
explain the principle of identity
give a reason why the resemblance of our broken interrupted perceptions induces us to attribute an identity to them.
account for the propensity, which this illusion gives, to unite these broken appearances by a continued existence.
explain that force and vivacity of conceptions that arise from the propensity.
In his his “Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding,” Hume divides all the perceptions of the mind into two classes or species. What are his names for and brief descriptions of those two?
The two classes are thoughts and ideas, and impressions. The less forcible and lively are commonly denominated thoughts and ideas. Impressions are more lively perceptions when we hear or see or fear or love or hate or desire, or will.
According to Hume, what is the principle by which humans reach or form a conclusion about cause and effect?
Custom or Habit
What conclusion does W.C. Salmon reach about scientific knowledge, based on Hume’s discussion of inductive (or ampliative) reasoning?
It doesn’t have one; Scientific knowledge rests on ampliative inferences which, cannot be shown to be certain. There is no certainty in scientific procedure, so there is no certain foundation of scientific knowledge
What is meant by the term “Descartes Dualism”? What is monism?
Descartes Dualism is the belief that the mind is separate from the body due to to the fact that it is not a physical thing (physical things take up space, and are not conscious). On the other hand Monism is the belief that the mind and body are one.
What is the problem of personal identity (p. 243)?
If one being can have at different times, different bodies then personal identity cannot be said to be bodily identity.
What is materialism? What are some possible alternatives to materialism? What is idealism?
It is the belief that only materials exist and all things are as a result of material interaction. Some alternatives to materialism include idealism, and dualism. Idealism is the belief that reality is a mental construct.
What is the argument from analogy for other minds?
The analogy argument says i have mind because i can think and thinking causes certain behaviors. when i see those behaviors in other people i can conclude that they have minds too.
What is interactionism?
The belief that the mind and the body are distinctly separate and easily interact with one another.
What is behaviorism?
A discipline of philosophy which emphasizes on observing behavior to gain an understanding of the mind.
What according to Gilbert Ryle is the problem of the Freedom of the Will?
The problem of the freedom of will is the question of whether “free will” actually exists in a world of cause and effects.
What is determinism?
It is the belief that all things are determined by events independent of the will.
According to David Armstrong, how can we think of perceptions?
That perception is a key to a door, the door being action.
According to Paul Churchland, what is eliminative materialism.
Eliminative Materialism is the belief that claims that everyday mental concepts such as beliefs, feelings, and desires are part of folk psychology and are wrong.
Churchland gives three possible arguments for eliminative materialism. Briefly, what are they?.
1st eliminative materialist will point to the widespread explanatory, predictive, and manipulative failures of folk psychology
- 2nd tries to draw an inductive lesson from our conceptual history. Our early folk theories of the activity of the heavens, fire, the nature of life were all wildy wrong. Except folk philosophy, not because it’s right, but because what’s talked about is so complex, that any handle on them is unlikely to be displaced
- 3rd attempts to find a priori advantage for eliminative materialism over the identity theory or functionalism, which attempts to counter the common intuition that eliminative materialism is distantly possible, but is much less probable than either the identity theory or functionalism
Briefly, give Alan Turing’s test, what has come to be called the “Turing test.” What is this test, if successful, supposed to show or demonstrate?
The test engages a human judge in a conversation with both a human and a machine that is designed to perform just like a human, and the judge is asked to distinguish the human from the machine. The purpose of this is to see if machines can have intelligence similar to that of a human.
What was Lady Lovelace’s objection to Babbage’s Analytical Engine?
the analytical engine has no pretensions to originate anything. it can do whatever we know how to order it to perform
