PHIL 101)Philosophy 101 Exam 1: Philosophy 101 Exam 2: Philosophy
101 Exam 3: Philosophy 101 Exam 4:Questions & Answers
Something interesting about Descartes - ANSWER:He helped found the Cartesian coordinate system.
Who were the scholastics? - ANSWER:Scholastics were Christian scholars who used the Bible, Aristotle,
and Church Authority to prove claims.
What does Descartes hope to achieve in the Meditations? - ANSWER:To establish something firm and
lasting in the sciences
According to Descartes, what is knowledge? - ANSWER:To know something, it must be certain and
indubitable.
What makes something certain? - ANSWER:You cannot be mistaken about it. Includes but is not limited
to: feeling certain.
What makes something indubitable? - ANSWER:Impossible to rationally doubt it. Irrational doubts don't
count. A rational doubt is one based on an adequate reason.
What is it to withhold belief? - ANSWER:To hold a belief in anything you can rationally doubt. What is
leftover, will be certain and indubitable
What is Descartes' method of doubt? - ANSWER:To doubt everything until it is certain, and if it is
doubted for any reason, then it will be rejected and will not be a foundation for something (i.e. science)
What fundamental principle upon which all his former beliefs rested that Descartes wishes to replace? -
ANSWER:Sense perception (Empiricism)
What is the argument from deceptive Sensory Experience? - ANSWER:The takeaway is that the senses
are not perfect.
What is the dream argument? - ANSWER:I know that I am standing only if I know that I am awake.
But I do not know that I am awake. (For all I know I might be dreaming.)
Therefore, I do not know that I am standing.
What is the evil deceiver argument? - ANSWER:Suppose there is an all-powerful demon deceiving you
about all it can. What, if anything, is then certain for you?
What role in Descartes' claim "I think, therefore I am" play in his theory of knowledge? - ANSWER:It is
the foundational principle, serving as a starting point for acquiring further knowledge by providing a
solid, irrefutable basis for the existence of a thinking mind.
What kind of thing does the "I" in "I think, therefore I am" refer to? - ANSWER:A thinking thing
What are the two theories of what it is to be a thing? - ANSWER:1. The bundle theory: A thing is just a
bundle of properties
, 2. The substance theory: A thing is a bundle of properties that inhere in a substance
What is the point of the Descartes wax example and how is it relevant to the two theories of what it is to
be a thing? - ANSWER:The wax melts, all of its sensible properties change, yet it is still the same wax.
How does Descartes prove that he has a mind? - ANSWER:His argument:
P1: We are aware of our own thoughts
P2: Thoughts are properties
P3: Those thoughts must inhere some substance
P4: We may call that substance a mind
C: Something over and above one's thoughts, namely a mind, exists.
According to Descartes, do we come to know about substances: by sensing them with our senses or by
reason? - ANSWER:Through reason.
What is Descartes' criterion of truth? - ANSWER:Clear and distinct perception
What are ideas according to Descartes? - ANSWER:Images of the things that they represent other things.
Neither true nor false.
What are volitions according to Descartes? - ANSWER:Choosings. Neither true nor false.
What are Judgements according to Descares? - ANSWER:Affirming or denying that something is true or
false. What you judge represents something else.
innate ideas - ANSWER:Built into our minds. They don't result from the senses.
Adventitious Ideas - ANSWER:Caused by objects outside of you. Your idea of a desk is caused by a desk
Fabrications - ANSWER:Ideas someone makes up
What are the two motives for raising the question of God's existence in meditation III? - ANSWER:1.
Seems like God could deceive us about what is clear and distinct
2. There doesn't seem to be any other way to show that our senses are relieble
infinite substance - ANSWER:God
finite substance - ANSWER:The real individual object, or thing, that properties are dependent upon
properties - ANSWER:characteristics used to describe a substance
Descartes' theory of degrees of reality - ANSWER:Finite substances can cause properties, but finite
substances cannot cause infinite substances, not enough substance.
Descartes' cosmological argument for God's existence in meditation III - ANSWER:Only God could have
caused our idea of God.
Know the argument that clear and distinct perceptions give us knowledge - ANSWER:Things that are
clear and distinct cannot be doubted, thus give us knowledge
101 Exam 3: Philosophy 101 Exam 4:Questions & Answers
Something interesting about Descartes - ANSWER:He helped found the Cartesian coordinate system.
Who were the scholastics? - ANSWER:Scholastics were Christian scholars who used the Bible, Aristotle,
and Church Authority to prove claims.
What does Descartes hope to achieve in the Meditations? - ANSWER:To establish something firm and
lasting in the sciences
According to Descartes, what is knowledge? - ANSWER:To know something, it must be certain and
indubitable.
What makes something certain? - ANSWER:You cannot be mistaken about it. Includes but is not limited
to: feeling certain.
What makes something indubitable? - ANSWER:Impossible to rationally doubt it. Irrational doubts don't
count. A rational doubt is one based on an adequate reason.
What is it to withhold belief? - ANSWER:To hold a belief in anything you can rationally doubt. What is
leftover, will be certain and indubitable
What is Descartes' method of doubt? - ANSWER:To doubt everything until it is certain, and if it is
doubted for any reason, then it will be rejected and will not be a foundation for something (i.e. science)
What fundamental principle upon which all his former beliefs rested that Descartes wishes to replace? -
ANSWER:Sense perception (Empiricism)
What is the argument from deceptive Sensory Experience? - ANSWER:The takeaway is that the senses
are not perfect.
What is the dream argument? - ANSWER:I know that I am standing only if I know that I am awake.
But I do not know that I am awake. (For all I know I might be dreaming.)
Therefore, I do not know that I am standing.
What is the evil deceiver argument? - ANSWER:Suppose there is an all-powerful demon deceiving you
about all it can. What, if anything, is then certain for you?
What role in Descartes' claim "I think, therefore I am" play in his theory of knowledge? - ANSWER:It is
the foundational principle, serving as a starting point for acquiring further knowledge by providing a
solid, irrefutable basis for the existence of a thinking mind.
What kind of thing does the "I" in "I think, therefore I am" refer to? - ANSWER:A thinking thing
What are the two theories of what it is to be a thing? - ANSWER:1. The bundle theory: A thing is just a
bundle of properties
, 2. The substance theory: A thing is a bundle of properties that inhere in a substance
What is the point of the Descartes wax example and how is it relevant to the two theories of what it is to
be a thing? - ANSWER:The wax melts, all of its sensible properties change, yet it is still the same wax.
How does Descartes prove that he has a mind? - ANSWER:His argument:
P1: We are aware of our own thoughts
P2: Thoughts are properties
P3: Those thoughts must inhere some substance
P4: We may call that substance a mind
C: Something over and above one's thoughts, namely a mind, exists.
According to Descartes, do we come to know about substances: by sensing them with our senses or by
reason? - ANSWER:Through reason.
What is Descartes' criterion of truth? - ANSWER:Clear and distinct perception
What are ideas according to Descartes? - ANSWER:Images of the things that they represent other things.
Neither true nor false.
What are volitions according to Descartes? - ANSWER:Choosings. Neither true nor false.
What are Judgements according to Descares? - ANSWER:Affirming or denying that something is true or
false. What you judge represents something else.
innate ideas - ANSWER:Built into our minds. They don't result from the senses.
Adventitious Ideas - ANSWER:Caused by objects outside of you. Your idea of a desk is caused by a desk
Fabrications - ANSWER:Ideas someone makes up
What are the two motives for raising the question of God's existence in meditation III? - ANSWER:1.
Seems like God could deceive us about what is clear and distinct
2. There doesn't seem to be any other way to show that our senses are relieble
infinite substance - ANSWER:God
finite substance - ANSWER:The real individual object, or thing, that properties are dependent upon
properties - ANSWER:characteristics used to describe a substance
Descartes' theory of degrees of reality - ANSWER:Finite substances can cause properties, but finite
substances cannot cause infinite substances, not enough substance.
Descartes' cosmological argument for God's existence in meditation III - ANSWER:Only God could have
caused our idea of God.
Know the argument that clear and distinct perceptions give us knowledge - ANSWER:Things that are
clear and distinct cannot be doubted, thus give us knowledge
