QUIZ 3: HARMAN | COMPREHENSIVE STUDY GUIDE, PRACTICE
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS 2026/2027
Harman's basic question in this essay is "Can [x] principles be tested and confirmed in the way [y]
principles can?" - ANS ✔✔moral; scientific
"Observations are always '____ ______.'" - ANS ✔✔theory laden
According to Harman, an observation is an immediate judgment made in response to the situation
without any conscious reasoning having taken place. - ANS ✔✔True
According to Harman, we make which of the following kinds of observations? - ANS ✔✔scientific and
moral
According to Harman, you need to assume the existence of moral facts in order to adequately explain
the occurrence of moral observations. - ANS ✔✔False
According to Harman, in order to explain the occurrence of moral observations, "you need only make
observations about the [x] or moral [y] of the person making the moral observation." - ANS
✔✔psychology; sensibility
According to Harman, the best explanation for the observation of a proton in a cloud chamber is that
there is actually a proton going through the cloud chamber, causing the vapor cloud. - ANS ✔✔True
According to Harman, an observation supports a theory only if the truth of the theory is the best
explanation for the occurrence of the observation. - ANS ✔✔True
"But there does not seem to be any way in which the actual rightness or wrongness of a given situation
can have any [x] on your [y]." (Second blank is two words) - ANS ✔✔effect; perceptual apparatus
According to Harman, which kind of evidence do we have for mathematics? - ANS ✔✔Indirect
observational evidence
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS 2026/2027
Harman's basic question in this essay is "Can [x] principles be tested and confirmed in the way [y]
principles can?" - ANS ✔✔moral; scientific
"Observations are always '____ ______.'" - ANS ✔✔theory laden
According to Harman, an observation is an immediate judgment made in response to the situation
without any conscious reasoning having taken place. - ANS ✔✔True
According to Harman, we make which of the following kinds of observations? - ANS ✔✔scientific and
moral
According to Harman, you need to assume the existence of moral facts in order to adequately explain
the occurrence of moral observations. - ANS ✔✔False
According to Harman, in order to explain the occurrence of moral observations, "you need only make
observations about the [x] or moral [y] of the person making the moral observation." - ANS
✔✔psychology; sensibility
According to Harman, the best explanation for the observation of a proton in a cloud chamber is that
there is actually a proton going through the cloud chamber, causing the vapor cloud. - ANS ✔✔True
According to Harman, an observation supports a theory only if the truth of the theory is the best
explanation for the occurrence of the observation. - ANS ✔✔True
"But there does not seem to be any way in which the actual rightness or wrongness of a given situation
can have any [x] on your [y]." (Second blank is two words) - ANS ✔✔effect; perceptual apparatus
According to Harman, which kind of evidence do we have for mathematics? - ANS ✔✔Indirect
observational evidence