Introduction to Philosophy

Final Examination

Multiple Choice Questions

 

1. Metaphysics is the study of right and wrong.

A. True

B. False

 

2. Logic is the study of reason and arguments.

A. True

B. False

 

3. Philosophy studies life’s most basic questions.

A. True

B. False

 

4. Philosophical questions are primarily subjective in nature.

A. True

B. False

 

5. The value of studying philosophy is that it develops your analytical abilities and your capacity for abstract thought.

A. True

B. False

 

6. _______________ is the study of how we live together in communities, and deals with problems of harmonizing freedom and obligation.

A. Social philosophy

B. Social interaction

C. Political philosophy

D. None of the above

 

7. ________________is what Aristotle referred to as the “first philosophy” and studies the most basic issues.

A. Ethics

B. Logic

C. Metaphysics

D. Social philosophy

 

8. The word philosophy derives from two ancient Greek words: philia, which means love, and sophia, which means wisdom.

A. True

B. False

 

9. A(n)______ fallacy involves an argument’s logical structure.

A. Informal

B. Formal

C. Premise

D. conclusion

 

10. A(n) ________ fallacy involves an argument’s subject matter.

A. Informal

B. Formal

C. Premise

D. conclusion

 

 

 

 

 

11. The two parts of an argument are _____.

A. Introduction and conclusion

B. Premises and conclusion

C. Pros and cons

D. Truths and conclusion

 

12. Another word for the facts, evidence, theories, or ideas that allegedly lead to an argument’s claim is premises.

A. True

B. False

 

13. If it’s sunny, Jennifer goes surfing. Jennifer went surfing today. Therefore, it must have been sunny. This is an excellent illustration of affirming the consequent, a formal fallacy.

A. True

B. False

 

14. “A square has four sides” is a necessary and sufficient condition for defining a square.

A. True

B. False

 

15. The potions riddle in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is an excellent example of logical thinking.

A. True

B. False

 

16. If someone is a student at Hogwarts, then he or she is studying witchcraft and wizardry. Neville Long-bottom is a student at Hogwarts. Therefore, Neville Long-bottom is studying witchcraft and wizardry. This is an excellent example of Modus Ponens, or the Asserting Rule.

A. True

B. False

 

17. The _____is the main conscious element of the personality and tries to mediate between the unrestrained desires of the superego and the punishing demands of the id for moral perfection.

A. Ego

B. Soul

C. Logic

D. None of the above

 

18. The inner feeling of freedom that we all have supports the theory of _____.

A. Fatalism

B. Determinism

C. Free will

D. None of the above

 

19. The ancient Greek story of Oedipus, who, no matter how hard he tries, cannot avoid his tragic destiny, is an example of the theory of _____.

A. Fatalism

B. Determinism

C. Free will

D. None of the above

 

 

 

 

 

20. The idea that there is one special person somewhere in the world that is your destiny to meet and fall in love with is an example of ______.

A. Fatalism

B. Determinism

C. Free will

D. None of the above

 

21. A theory that claims that all human behavior is the result of scientifically identifiable natural forces is an example of _____.

A. Fatalism

B. Determinism

C. Free will

D. None of the above

 

22. B.F. Skinner believes that human freedom is impossible.

A. True

B. False

 

23. Freudianism claims that the human personality has neither conscious nor unconscious dimensions.

A. True

B. False

 

24. A “Freudian slip” is an example of how the unconscious can determine what we say.

A. True

B. False

 

25. Ellis believes that irrational beliefs are the greatest threat to our freedom.

A. True

B. False

 

26. _____ is the position that holds that in any circumstance, we genuinely have more than one option from which to choose.

A. Indeterminism

B. Existentialism

C. Pragmatism

D. Free will

 

27. ______ claims that freedom is so inescapable that it is sometimes uncomfortable, which is why Sartre wrote that we are “condemned to be free”.

A. Indeterminism

B. Existentialism

C. Pragmatism

D. Free will

 

28. William James is the most important representative of _____, the school of thought that claims that what is true is what “works”.

A. Indeterminism

B. Existentialism

C. Pragmatism

D. Free will

 

29. Sartre accepts the idea that existence precedes essence, that is, the theory that our choices determine our nature.

A. True

B. False

 

30. The theory of free will implies about responsibility that because our actions result from our own choices, we are fully responsible for them.

A. True

B. False

 

31. Aristotle would agree most strongly with which of the following statement: The more we understand people, the more we know how little responsibility they have for their actions.

A. True

B. False

 

32. According to Ellis, irrational beliefs prove that determinism is correct.

A. True

B. False

 

33. Which of the following comes closest to the main ideas underlying a deontological approach to ethics?

A. do your duty

B. survival of the fittest

C. no harm, no foul

D. there is virtue in suffering

 

34. Utilitarianism _____.

A. is a deontological ethical theory that uses a scientific, empirical basis for ethics

B. is a teleological ethical theory that bases ethics on private philosophical insight

C. is a deontological ethical theory that uses pleasure and notions like “the greatest good of the greatest number” as standards for judging the morality of actions

D. is a teleological ethical theory that uses pleasure and notions like “the greatest good of the greatest number” as standards for judging the morality of actions

 

35. The strengths of Bentham’s Hedonistic Calculus are it effectively measures many of the consequences of an action and it does not prejudge the question of the morality of an action.

A. True

B. False

 

36. _____ revised Bentham’s ideas by arguing for the importance of differences in the type, kind, or quality of pleasures and pains that follow from actions.

A. Kant

B. Mill

C. Plato

D. Scorates

 

37. The most basic concept of Kant’s ethics is_____.

A. Truth

B. Virtue

C. Spirituality

D. Duty

 

38. Kant calls his basic moral rule the categorical truth.

A. True

B. False

 

 

 

39. The ultimate drawback to a teleological approach to ethics is that it allows for the idea that “the ends justify the means”.

A. True

B. False

 

40. In a religious approach to ethics, faith and the authority of sacred texts have the final word.

A. True

B. False

 

41. A healthy soul is characterized generally by _____.

A. the ability to distinguish right from wrong without being blinded by fear, greed, or the like; strength of will, freedom, self-control

B. divine grace and the guarantee of eternal life

C. a belief in the importance of suffering and the sense of moral superiority that goes along with that

D. a belief in the teachings of Gyges and the ethical insights that flow from that

 

42. Socrates was unusual as a philosopher because _____.

A. he spent his life getting rich

B. no other philosopher has ever challenged his ideas

C. he dictated all of his ideas to another philosopher, Plato

D. he never wrote anything about his teachings

 

43. In the story of Gyges’ ring, a shepherd finds a ring that can make him invisible.

A. True

B. False

 

44. Plato thinks that we are made up of three parts, physical, emotional, and intellectual.

A. True

B. False

 

45. Consider the case of a woman who is robbed and beaten. The robber escapes punishment. Socrates would say the robber has been most hurt by this crime.

A. True

B. False

 

46. Socrates illustrates his ideas about the ethical life and the unethical life with the image of two wine jars.

A. True

B. False

 

47. In the Platonic dialogue entitled the Gorgiras, the character Callicles argues that best life is one of the uncontrolled and totally self-interested pursuit of pleasure.

A. True

B. False

 

48. Plato believes that in the unhealthy soul there is an inappropriate balance among the three parts.

A. True

B. False

 

 

 

 

49. Thales believes that the basic nature of all things, the first principle of reality, is ________.

A. Time

B. Our sense of self

C. Our bodies

D. Water

 

50. Anaximander’s first principle of reality is the Unlimited.

A. True

B. False

 

51. Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes and other thinkers such as Heraclitus and Parmenides are known as Post-Socratics

A. True

B. False

 

52. Plato explains the divided line theory with the allegory of a cave

A. True

B. False

 

53. Berkeley maintains that object no not exist apart from being perceived.

A. True

B. False

 

54. Berkeley claims that God constantly perceives reality, and thus gives it ultimate existence.

A. True

B. False

 

55. An Anthropomorphic account of reality explains things by appealing to cultural terms.

A. True

B. False

 

56. The philosophical approach to knowledge known as empiricism claims that knowledge comes from, or arises in, our minds.

A. True

B. False

 

57. The philosophical approach to knowledge known as rationalism claims that knowledge comes from sensory experiences.

A. True

B. False

 

58. Hume thinks that to the extent that knowledge is possible, it ultimately depends on___________.

A. The senses

B. The mind

C. The soul

D. Our logic

 

59. Hume uses the example of a billiard ball hitting another to question the concept of causality.

A. True

B. False

 

 

 

 

60. Gilbert Ryle uses the term ___________ to describe an error in logical categories, otherwise known as “comparing apples to oranges”.

A. Informal

B. Incorrect analogy

C. Category false

D. Category mistake

 

61. “A triangle has three sides” is an example of an analytic statement.

A. True

B. False

 

62. Descartes uses the example of a piece of melting wax to claim that the senses are the only dependable source of knowledge.

A. True

B. False

 

63. Kant tried to synthesize the epistemological views of the rationalists and empiricists.

A. True

B. False

 

64. An argument from design, claims that the universe is so intelligently crafted that it must have a creator.

A. True

B. False

 

65. The problem of evil is taken up in the Bible in the book of job.

A. True

B. False

 

66. Aquinas defines _________ as potentialities becoming actualized.

A. Our morals

B. Our actions

C. Motion

D. Our sense of self

 

67. An onotological argument concerning God’s existence claims that by merely contemplating the notion of God as “that-than-which-nothing-greater-can-be-thought”, we become aware that God must exist.

A. True

B. False

 

68. David Hume claims the fear is the basis of religion, that people “accept religion on emotional grounds.”

A. True

B. False

 

69. David Hume dismisses such arguments about God’s existence from causality with the claim that the material universe itself might be a necessarily existent being, which means there is no need for a “first cause”.

A. True

B. False

 

70. Anselm’s discussion of the possibility of God’s existence relies on empirical evidence alone.

A. True

B. False

 

 

71. Anselm’s argument is essentially Aristotelian because it believes that the question of God’s existence can be settled by studying the workings of nature.

A. True

B. False

 

72. Hegel’s label for the dynamic and conflict-filled process that dominates reality is dialectic, the three elements of which are thesis, antithesis, synthesis.

A. True

B. False

 

73. Marx calls the type of work that characterizes capitalism_____________.

A. Punishment

B. Forced labor

C. Unethical

D. Alienated labor

 

74. Karma is an essentially deterministic principle which is, paradoxically, based on the idea of individual free choice.

A. True

B. False

 

75. The Supreme Buddha was a prince from fifth century B.C. Nepal who became a great spiritual leader.

A. True

B. False

 

76. _______________ is the Buddhist idea that because the task of spiritual development is too complex to accomplish in one lifetime, we live many lives.

A. Karma

B. Our destiny

C. Rebirth

D. Free will

 

77. In Western culture, religion and philosophy thoroughly intermix, and in the East, they do just the same.

A. True

B. False

 

78. The Buddhist conception of the self is the source of the way the self is understood in Western philosophy.

A. True

B. False

 

79. Modern natural science has a close relationship to the school of philosophy called Empiricism.

A. True

B. False

 

80. According to Einstein, _________ will be perceived the same whether the observer is moving or not.

A. Space-time continuum

B. String theory

C. The speed of light

D. Theory of Relativity

 

 

 

 

81. Einstein’s theory about the ______implies that reality has four dimensions, not three.

A. Space-time continuum

B. String theory

C. The speed of light

D. Theory of Relativity

 

82. _______________is based on the claim that the ultimate building blocks of reality aren’t subatomic particles, but even smaller vibrating one-dimensional strings of energy.

A. Space-time continuum

B. String theory

C. The speed of light

D. Theory of Relativity

 

83. The world of subatomic particles spawned a separate branch of physics called quantum mechanics.

A. True

B. False

 

84. Imagine two twins. One gets onto a space ship and travels close to the speed of light for what the ship’s clocks record as a few months. The other twin remains on earth. When the space ship returns, there will be no difference in their ages.

A. True

B. False

 

85. Imagine that you are standing still, while a friend of yours is on a train heading north. You see two lightning bolts strike the ground at the same instant one to the north and the other to the south. Einstein would say that your friend on the train experiences things differently, seeing the northern bolt strike before the southern bolt.

A. True

B. False

 

86. Unlike Newton, Einstein believes that space is constant and absolute and cannot “bend”

A. True

B. False

 

87. The main psychological research on epistemological differences between men and women focuses on different developmental stages that we go through in progressing from a simple to a mature understanding of the concept of _____________.

A. Truth

B. Self-actualization

C. Understanding

D. Knowledge

 

88. In ______________ “conventional” morality, including stages three and four, we understand right and wrong in terms of laws and the expectations of others.

A. Kohlberg’s

B. Perry’s

C. Belenky’s

D. Gilligan’s

 

 

 

89. If we are at Perry’s second stage, “unacceptable multiplicity”, and we hear two opposite accounts of the causes of the Reformation, we would probably think that one, but only one, of the two accounts is true.

A. True

B. False

 

90. In Belenky’s first stage, “____________,” knowledge is what some external authority says it is.

A. Constructed knowledge

B. Received knowledge

C. Subjective knowledge

D. Procedural knowledge

 

91. In Belenky’s final stage, “_______________,” believing is more important than doubting.

A. Constructed knowledge

B. Received knowledge

C. Subjective knowledge

D. Procedural knowledge

 

92. If we combine the two perspectives represented by Kohlberg and Gilligan, the problem of the moral justification of an action becomes more difficult and involved.

A. True

B. False

 

93. Sex refers to societal roles, whereas gender refers to biology.

A. True

B. False

 

94. “Human” and “person” are different, but related, ideas. “Human” is a biological concept, while “person” is a _____________ concept.

A. Theological

B. Philosophical

C. Scientific

D. Emotional

 

95. Dolphins’ curiosity about humans can be traced back at least to ancient __________.

A. Rome

B. China

C. Greece

D. None of the above

 

96. The one dolphin sense that acts as both their eyes and ears in the water is like the modern human sonar system onboard submarines.

A. True

B. False

 

97. Dolphins have a body temperature of _________ degrees.

A. 98.6

B. 96.8

C. 90.2

D. 92.2

 

98. As far as the criteria for “personhood” are concerned, dolphins probably do possess “awareness” because the fact that they can be so easily trained shows that they are aware of the external world and able to interact with it.

A. True

B. False

99. The fact that dolphins can perform leaps, dives and flips on cue from trainers: prove that dolphins are not intelligent enough to be persons, because persons would not perform such menial behaviors.

A. True

B. False

 

100. In terms of the criteria for personhood developed in this chapter, dolphins, on balance, did pretty well.

A. True

B. False