PHIL 101: EXAM 1 (JMU - YATES) EXAM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED / VERIFIED ANSWERS LATEST UPDATE

philosophy - ANS -Philosophy is concrete and absolute- not abstract -Trying to seek simple truths -Moves into life- not away -Paying attention to life and ideas -Formalizes the question: What should I value, what do I believe and why what motivates philosophy? - ANS -Examines beliefs -activity/practice involving questioning beliefs about life, --morality, reality, knowledge -Going beneath the usual surface -Motivated by wonder, awe, curiosity -Turning emotional experiences into reflection -Meaning of life, morality why is philosophy important - ANS -Importance of trying to identify and address fundamental questions of meaning -Improving our reasoning but never perfectly -Powers and limits of rational thought -Gives us a new way to look at things/find truth -Can illuminate fundamental questions and concerns "who am i?" what qualities does philosophy ask of us? - ANS -Hunger for truth -Good reasoning -Tenacity -Perseverance Patience Willingness to follow reasoning/arguments Willingness to risk good/productive confusion- rethinking something motivated reasoning - ANS -People don't arrive at viewpoints in a totally unbiased and rational way -People change their opinions based on goals -Having an opinion that favors you, your thoughts, or your beliefs -Self-preservation instinct to know we have an identity by being allied with the right viewpoints -We have a sense of self-meaning in life if we believe the right truth -People think their way to a conclusion on things they favor -We're more inclined to confirm opinions of pre-existing notions recruiting evidence - ANS -seeking/avoiding -Can I vs must I believe -Must I needs more evidence -Most people dont get evidence as an impartial judge -Ex; I'm trying to buy a car, I'm looking for reasons to justify it -Motivations guide what info people consider evaluating evidence - ANS -Distorting influences -Group dynamics -Pressure towards consensus, dissonance to agree -Example of someone evaluating evidence: if a parent agrees their child fouled in a sports game egoism - ANS thinking the best of yourself Ferry's "what is philosophy" reading - ANS -Doesn't adopt a religious approach to handle death 1. Reckoning with lifes limits 2.Philosophical vs religious 'salvation' 3.Anxiety & the present 3 orientations of philosophy - ANS Theory Ethics salvation/wisdom four approaches of doing philosophy - ANS 1. definitions 2. logic & proofs 3. being visionary 4. focusing on the practical ( the moral) metaphysics - ANS -attempt to describe and explain how the world really is - truth of reality as a whole cosmology - ANS -how the universe came to be -how was substance created Monist materialism: The Ionian naturalists - ANS -all assume there must be 1 underlying basic material -seeking the common denominator- the animated "oneness" of reality Thales - ANS believed water was the source of all things on earth Anaximander - ANS The element would be indefinite and unlimited but couldn't come up with anything so named it "Apeiron" anaximenes - ANS -thinks the fundamental thing is air -says air can change and bring multiple forms of things Zeno - ANS -Tortoise and Hare example -Logically- Achilles can't catch up with the Tortoise