PHIL 100 MCQ FINAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
1. Scruton says that philosophy can be approached in two ways. Which of those ways
does he say he will seek to use?
a. Philosophy can be approached by studying how it has been done.
b. Philosophy can be approached by doing it.
c. Philosophy can be approached by comparing it to other fields like science or religion.
d. Philosophy can be approached only when it is adequately read like literature.
e. Philosophy can be approached as a spiritual quest for truth. - Answers - b.
Philosophy can be approached by doing it.
1. Why are the questions of philosophy to be studied?
a. To find profound answers to these questions.
b. To exercise our minds in an ancient tradition of thought.
c. For the sake of the questions themselves.
d. For the answers to the difficult questions of existence.
e. To understand human intellectual history. - Answers - c. For the sake of the questions
themselves.
1. What is the only value judgment that Scruton says is widely accepted today?
a. All judgments of religion are correct
b. Only the pronouncing judgments of science have any credibility
c. The judgment that all judgments are wrong
d. To judge another's worth with love and respect no mater what
e. Philosophical judgments based on great ideas - Answers - c. The judgment that all
judgments are wrong**
1. Scruton gives five features of scientific method. Which of the following is NOT one of
these?
a. The search for causes involves a search for laws
b. Science gives absolute answers that are true in all cases
c. Laws are statements of probability
d. Laws are themselves explained through wider and more general laws
e. There is no end to the causes of things - Answers - b. Science gives absolute
answers that are true in all cases
1. What is the ontological argument?
a. An argument that philosophy is necessary to human existence even when science
can discover truths.
b. It is an argument for the existence of god.
c. It is an argument that states that all evil things are self-destructive and refuting.
d. An argument that shows why philosophy is the source of all religion.
e. It is an argument that purports to show the validity of all ethical inquires. - Answers -
b. It is an argument for the existence of god.
,1. When Euthyphro meets Socrates what is he on his way to do?
a. Euthyphro is on his way to meet friends to talk about courage.
b. Euthyphro has just been to the market and is on his way home to visit his father.
c. Euthyphro is seeking council from a divine oracle with regards to what actions he
should do.
d. Euthyphro is on his way to court to prosecute a murder case against his own father.
e. Euthyphro has just been out all night drinking and stumbles into Socrates in a
drunken way. - Answers - d. Euthyphro is on his way to court to prosecute a murder
case against his own father.
1. Which of the following best summarizes Euthyphro's first attempt to teach Socrates?
a. "Do what I am doing now"
b. "Learn from the holy books"
c. "Obey"
d. "What all the gods love is _____"
e. "The part of justice that deals with the gods" - Answers - a. "Do what I am doing now"
1. In this dialogue there is a deep issue in the background. Which of the following best
captures that issue?
a. It is only because of the the divine, something outside and beyond humans, that there
is moral or ethical obligation at all.
b. There must be some standard of goodness, ethics and virtue in order for us to make
any claims about right and wrong.
c. It is possible, through reason and dialogue, to know what is the right thing to do.
d. WE can be misled into thinking we are ethical or righteous by unclear thinking,
thinking that is contradictory.
e. All of the above - Answers - e. All of the above***
1. Why does Socrates seem so frustrating, ironic and maybe even annoying (kind of a
jerk)?
a. Because he is so wise this is how he seems to those who are ignorant
b. He this is what he does to match the arrogance, pride and stubbornness of his
interlocutors, those he is talking to
c. He doesn't seem this way, he is always polite, open and honest, completely
straightforward and clear
d. Socrates was a bad person. He was taken to court for corrupting the youth and
undermining the society
e. It was probably due to his frustration with his low status in society, a poor working
class man who didn't have much power in government - Answers - b. He this is what he
does to match the arrogance, pride and stubbornness of his interlocutors, those he is
talking to
1. What profoundly awesome prediction did Thales accomplish based on his
philosophical method and understanding?
a. The perfect timing of the tides of the Mediterranean sea
, b. The exact date and time of a complete solar eclipse
c. When certain comets would return in their orbits
d. How often something must be heard in order to be remember by most people
e. None of the above - Answers - b. The exact date and time of a complete solar eclipse
1. One of the defining features of each of the presocratic philosophers is that they
propose an Arche or one universal constitutive explanation for all of reality. Which of the
follow is NOT an Arche proposed by Thales, Pythagoras, Xenophanes or Heraclitus?
a. Time
b. Water
c. Number
d. The Divine
e. Fire - Answers - a. Time
1. Pythagoras' philosophy was inextricably connected to a new religion he founded.
Both existed and were known to Plato 150 years after Pythagoras. Which of the
following is NOT one of the influences that Pythagoreanism had on Plato?
a. soma sema (The body is a tomb for the soul)
b. transmigration of souls
c. utopia is possible (society can be designed perfectly to benefit all)
d. equality of the sexes
e. divide humankind into a hierarchy of three levels
f. Truth can be reached through dialectic - Answers - f. Truth can be reached through
dialectic
1. Which of the following best characterizes Xenophanes?
a. Skeptical of the religious knowledge of his contemporaries
b. A founder of a new religion
c. A prophet
d. An atheist
e. None of the above - Answers - a. Skeptical of the religious knowledge of his
contemporaries
1. Which of the following is a NOT quote from Heraclitus?
a. "The path up and down is one and the same."
b. "In the same river we both step and do not step, we are and are not."
c. "It is not possible to step twice into the same river."
d. "Upon those that step into the same rivers different and different waters flow."
e. "Spit upon the trimmings of your hair and finger-nails." - Answers - e. "Spit upon the
trimmings of your hair and finger-nails."
1. What is the main contribution of the sophists that can also be seen as a similarity with
Socrates?
a. Questioning of conventions and critique of the limits of knowledge
b. Using a dialectical method to find truth and epistemological certainty
c. Belief and proof of the existence of gods
1. Scruton says that philosophy can be approached in two ways. Which of those ways
does he say he will seek to use?
a. Philosophy can be approached by studying how it has been done.
b. Philosophy can be approached by doing it.
c. Philosophy can be approached by comparing it to other fields like science or religion.
d. Philosophy can be approached only when it is adequately read like literature.
e. Philosophy can be approached as a spiritual quest for truth. - Answers - b.
Philosophy can be approached by doing it.
1. Why are the questions of philosophy to be studied?
a. To find profound answers to these questions.
b. To exercise our minds in an ancient tradition of thought.
c. For the sake of the questions themselves.
d. For the answers to the difficult questions of existence.
e. To understand human intellectual history. - Answers - c. For the sake of the questions
themselves.
1. What is the only value judgment that Scruton says is widely accepted today?
a. All judgments of religion are correct
b. Only the pronouncing judgments of science have any credibility
c. The judgment that all judgments are wrong
d. To judge another's worth with love and respect no mater what
e. Philosophical judgments based on great ideas - Answers - c. The judgment that all
judgments are wrong**
1. Scruton gives five features of scientific method. Which of the following is NOT one of
these?
a. The search for causes involves a search for laws
b. Science gives absolute answers that are true in all cases
c. Laws are statements of probability
d. Laws are themselves explained through wider and more general laws
e. There is no end to the causes of things - Answers - b. Science gives absolute
answers that are true in all cases
1. What is the ontological argument?
a. An argument that philosophy is necessary to human existence even when science
can discover truths.
b. It is an argument for the existence of god.
c. It is an argument that states that all evil things are self-destructive and refuting.
d. An argument that shows why philosophy is the source of all religion.
e. It is an argument that purports to show the validity of all ethical inquires. - Answers -
b. It is an argument for the existence of god.
,1. When Euthyphro meets Socrates what is he on his way to do?
a. Euthyphro is on his way to meet friends to talk about courage.
b. Euthyphro has just been to the market and is on his way home to visit his father.
c. Euthyphro is seeking council from a divine oracle with regards to what actions he
should do.
d. Euthyphro is on his way to court to prosecute a murder case against his own father.
e. Euthyphro has just been out all night drinking and stumbles into Socrates in a
drunken way. - Answers - d. Euthyphro is on his way to court to prosecute a murder
case against his own father.
1. Which of the following best summarizes Euthyphro's first attempt to teach Socrates?
a. "Do what I am doing now"
b. "Learn from the holy books"
c. "Obey"
d. "What all the gods love is _____"
e. "The part of justice that deals with the gods" - Answers - a. "Do what I am doing now"
1. In this dialogue there is a deep issue in the background. Which of the following best
captures that issue?
a. It is only because of the the divine, something outside and beyond humans, that there
is moral or ethical obligation at all.
b. There must be some standard of goodness, ethics and virtue in order for us to make
any claims about right and wrong.
c. It is possible, through reason and dialogue, to know what is the right thing to do.
d. WE can be misled into thinking we are ethical or righteous by unclear thinking,
thinking that is contradictory.
e. All of the above - Answers - e. All of the above***
1. Why does Socrates seem so frustrating, ironic and maybe even annoying (kind of a
jerk)?
a. Because he is so wise this is how he seems to those who are ignorant
b. He this is what he does to match the arrogance, pride and stubbornness of his
interlocutors, those he is talking to
c. He doesn't seem this way, he is always polite, open and honest, completely
straightforward and clear
d. Socrates was a bad person. He was taken to court for corrupting the youth and
undermining the society
e. It was probably due to his frustration with his low status in society, a poor working
class man who didn't have much power in government - Answers - b. He this is what he
does to match the arrogance, pride and stubbornness of his interlocutors, those he is
talking to
1. What profoundly awesome prediction did Thales accomplish based on his
philosophical method and understanding?
a. The perfect timing of the tides of the Mediterranean sea
, b. The exact date and time of a complete solar eclipse
c. When certain comets would return in their orbits
d. How often something must be heard in order to be remember by most people
e. None of the above - Answers - b. The exact date and time of a complete solar eclipse
1. One of the defining features of each of the presocratic philosophers is that they
propose an Arche or one universal constitutive explanation for all of reality. Which of the
follow is NOT an Arche proposed by Thales, Pythagoras, Xenophanes or Heraclitus?
a. Time
b. Water
c. Number
d. The Divine
e. Fire - Answers - a. Time
1. Pythagoras' philosophy was inextricably connected to a new religion he founded.
Both existed and were known to Plato 150 years after Pythagoras. Which of the
following is NOT one of the influences that Pythagoreanism had on Plato?
a. soma sema (The body is a tomb for the soul)
b. transmigration of souls
c. utopia is possible (society can be designed perfectly to benefit all)
d. equality of the sexes
e. divide humankind into a hierarchy of three levels
f. Truth can be reached through dialectic - Answers - f. Truth can be reached through
dialectic
1. Which of the following best characterizes Xenophanes?
a. Skeptical of the religious knowledge of his contemporaries
b. A founder of a new religion
c. A prophet
d. An atheist
e. None of the above - Answers - a. Skeptical of the religious knowledge of his
contemporaries
1. Which of the following is a NOT quote from Heraclitus?
a. "The path up and down is one and the same."
b. "In the same river we both step and do not step, we are and are not."
c. "It is not possible to step twice into the same river."
d. "Upon those that step into the same rivers different and different waters flow."
e. "Spit upon the trimmings of your hair and finger-nails." - Answers - e. "Spit upon the
trimmings of your hair and finger-nails."
1. What is the main contribution of the sophists that can also be seen as a similarity with
Socrates?
a. Questioning of conventions and critique of the limits of knowledge
b. Using a dialectical method to find truth and epistemological certainty
c. Belief and proof of the existence of gods
