PHIL 230- Todd Long Final Exam Fully
Solved 2025-2026 Updated.
Skeptical Scenarios - Answer Rene Descartes- a situation that when in it you do not know as
much as you think you do
Knowledge (belief, truth, justification)
Rene Descartes - Answer -"Father of modern philosophy"
-modernism (idea that utopia was important)
-too much uncertainty about facts of knowledge
-certainty
-start a new strong/ firm foundation for knowledge (house)
4 rules for D's Mediations - Answer 1. never accept anything as true unless it's clearly and
distinctly true
2. divide problems analytically (into their parts)
3. Go from the simple to the complex
4. be complete (don't leave out any steps of your reasoning, even if you think it's obvious)
Meditation One (reconstruction of these ideas) - Answer -senses, dreaming, evil demon
(arguments)
Senses Argument - Answer -no belief based on the sense can go in the "foundation" (no
certainty from the senses, sometimes they deceive us)
1. my senses are faculties that have misled me in the past (into believing falsehood)
2. all faculties that have misled me in the past are not trustworthy as a certain indication of
truth
3. my senses are not trustworthy as a certain indication of truth [1,2]
4. If (3), then none of the beliefs I have based on sense perception is certain for me
C. none of the beliefs i have base don sense perception is certain for me [3,4]
,1. there are no certain indications that distinguish waking experiences from dreaming
experiences
2. if 1 than I don't know for certain that I'm awake right now
3. i don't know for certain that I'm awake right now [1,2]
4. if 3 then none of the beliefs I have based on what I take to be waking experience is certain for
me
5. none of the beliefs that have based on what I take to be waking experience is certain for me
[3,4]
6. if 5 then none of the scientific /empirical law is certain for me
C. none of the scientific/empirical law is certain for me [5,6]
Evil Demon Argument - Answer -there is a being powerful enough to control the world, so
there can be something evil that is deceiving him as much as possible
-D doesn't believe there's an evil genius
1. it's possible that i'm being deceived as much as possible by an evil genus/demon
2. If (1), then i can't tell for certain, which, if any, of my beliefs are true
3. i can't tell for certain, which, if any, of my beliefs are true [1,2]
4. if (3), then i know nothing for certain
C. I know nothing for certain [3,4]
(VALID, fails conclusive premises test b/c #2 is false)
Meditation Two - Answer First proposition of certainty-I exist
He is certain that he exists because he convinced himself that nothing is certain and to convince
himself this, he must exist (I think therefore I am)
He has no reason to doubt his existence
He does not know what he is, just that he exists
Wax and Knowledge - Answer A piece of wax changes due to temperature, and other outside
factors, so how can we know what defines wax if the properties based on our senses are always
changing?
, The wax is a body, not the physical characteristics of the body-the necessary conditions to be
wax are unknown
Anything that is wax is extended, changeable, and flexible (properties of the wax)
Meditation Two - Answer N: Nothing is certain
KN: N is certain
Q: Is N true? No, because it says that there is something that is certain even though N says
"nothing is certain"
- So if N is true, KN CANNOT be true (he knows for certain that he exists)
Cogito Passage - Answer Cogito-i think
I think therefore I am
Argument Interpretation for Cogito Passage - Answer Q1: Whats the 1st proposition known
for certain?
- I exist
Q2: What make that proposition known for certain?
1. i think
2. anything that thinks exists
C. I exist
(Fails circularity test-- inorder to be certain about his existence he has to first know the
premisses with certainty therefore 1 and 2 can't be true)
Q3: What intellectual transformation does Descartes undergo in the passage?
- he comes to know with certainty that he exists and
thereby gains a foundation for knowledge
Epistemic Discovery Interpretation for Cogito Passage - Answer Q1: Whats the 1st
proposition known for certain?
- I exist
Q2: What make that proposition known for certain?
- not only reasons (premises) he discovers but rather the intuition (rational insight) that he has
Solved 2025-2026 Updated.
Skeptical Scenarios - Answer Rene Descartes- a situation that when in it you do not know as
much as you think you do
Knowledge (belief, truth, justification)
Rene Descartes - Answer -"Father of modern philosophy"
-modernism (idea that utopia was important)
-too much uncertainty about facts of knowledge
-certainty
-start a new strong/ firm foundation for knowledge (house)
4 rules for D's Mediations - Answer 1. never accept anything as true unless it's clearly and
distinctly true
2. divide problems analytically (into their parts)
3. Go from the simple to the complex
4. be complete (don't leave out any steps of your reasoning, even if you think it's obvious)
Meditation One (reconstruction of these ideas) - Answer -senses, dreaming, evil demon
(arguments)
Senses Argument - Answer -no belief based on the sense can go in the "foundation" (no
certainty from the senses, sometimes they deceive us)
1. my senses are faculties that have misled me in the past (into believing falsehood)
2. all faculties that have misled me in the past are not trustworthy as a certain indication of
truth
3. my senses are not trustworthy as a certain indication of truth [1,2]
4. If (3), then none of the beliefs I have based on sense perception is certain for me
C. none of the beliefs i have base don sense perception is certain for me [3,4]
,1. there are no certain indications that distinguish waking experiences from dreaming
experiences
2. if 1 than I don't know for certain that I'm awake right now
3. i don't know for certain that I'm awake right now [1,2]
4. if 3 then none of the beliefs I have based on what I take to be waking experience is certain for
me
5. none of the beliefs that have based on what I take to be waking experience is certain for me
[3,4]
6. if 5 then none of the scientific /empirical law is certain for me
C. none of the scientific/empirical law is certain for me [5,6]
Evil Demon Argument - Answer -there is a being powerful enough to control the world, so
there can be something evil that is deceiving him as much as possible
-D doesn't believe there's an evil genius
1. it's possible that i'm being deceived as much as possible by an evil genus/demon
2. If (1), then i can't tell for certain, which, if any, of my beliefs are true
3. i can't tell for certain, which, if any, of my beliefs are true [1,2]
4. if (3), then i know nothing for certain
C. I know nothing for certain [3,4]
(VALID, fails conclusive premises test b/c #2 is false)
Meditation Two - Answer First proposition of certainty-I exist
He is certain that he exists because he convinced himself that nothing is certain and to convince
himself this, he must exist (I think therefore I am)
He has no reason to doubt his existence
He does not know what he is, just that he exists
Wax and Knowledge - Answer A piece of wax changes due to temperature, and other outside
factors, so how can we know what defines wax if the properties based on our senses are always
changing?
, The wax is a body, not the physical characteristics of the body-the necessary conditions to be
wax are unknown
Anything that is wax is extended, changeable, and flexible (properties of the wax)
Meditation Two - Answer N: Nothing is certain
KN: N is certain
Q: Is N true? No, because it says that there is something that is certain even though N says
"nothing is certain"
- So if N is true, KN CANNOT be true (he knows for certain that he exists)
Cogito Passage - Answer Cogito-i think
I think therefore I am
Argument Interpretation for Cogito Passage - Answer Q1: Whats the 1st proposition known
for certain?
- I exist
Q2: What make that proposition known for certain?
1. i think
2. anything that thinks exists
C. I exist
(Fails circularity test-- inorder to be certain about his existence he has to first know the
premisses with certainty therefore 1 and 2 can't be true)
Q3: What intellectual transformation does Descartes undergo in the passage?
- he comes to know with certainty that he exists and
thereby gains a foundation for knowledge
Epistemic Discovery Interpretation for Cogito Passage - Answer Q1: Whats the 1st
proposition known for certain?
- I exist
Q2: What make that proposition known for certain?
- not only reasons (premises) he discovers but rather the intuition (rational insight) that he has
