Philosophy 120 Final UPDATED ACTUAL Questions and CORRECT Answers
Demarcation Problem How to distinguish between science and pseudoscience
Rationalism Reason and logic are the fundamental source of all human knowledge
Empiricism Sense experience is the fundamental source of all human knowledge
1. Accept only what is certain
2. Start by gaining certainty of simple claims
Descartes Rationalist Method
3. Then use that knowledge to gain understanding of complex claims
4. Use demonstrations that involve deductive reasoning
Descartes Theory You cannot know anything for certain
An argument's premises logically entail its conclusion. If the premises are true then
Deductive Argument
the conclusion must be true
Principle of Sufficient Reason Every event that occurs must have a rational explanation
The Mechanistic Approach Focuses on decomposition into component parts and their interactions
Descriptive refers to how things actually are and normative relates to how things
Descriptive vs. Normative
should be
Metaphysics is an area of philosophy concerned with what there is in the universe
Metaphysics vs Epistemology and the nature of what exists. Epistemology is a related area interested in knowledge
and how we know things about the universe.
Three Branches of Philosophy Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics
Inductive Argument Those that make their conclusions merely probable.
Even an infinite number of experiences of constant conjunction cannot give rise to
new knowledge of a necessary connection between the two events. We shouldn't
Inductive Skeptism (Hume)
believe in causation. We can never be justified in believing a hypothesis based on
evidence
The assumption that the future would resemble the past (that nature continues
Circular Reasoning
uniformly the same)
, 1. Empiricism is true
2. Both deductive and inductive inferences are reliable and central to science
Logical Empiricism
3. Statements have meaning only if they can be confirmed by observation
4. Science is the systematic tracking of the patterns of our experiences
Knowledge that is justified by reason and definition alone without appealing to
A priori (analytics truths)
experience
A posteriori (empirical truths) Knowledge that is justified by appealing to experience or experimental results
Descartes on External World Skepticism
Wanted to use math an dlogic to understand how to confirm the truth of various
Logical Empiricists
claims by connecting them with observations aquired from senses
Analytic sentences are true or false simply in virtue of the meanings of the terms
Analytic Synthetic Distinction within them (regardless of the way the world is). Synthetic sentences are true or false
in virtue of both the meanings of the words and the way the world is.
The meaning of a sentence is determined by its method of verification. If a sentence
Verifiability Theory of Meaning
cannot be verified by observation, then it has no meaning.
Holism Cannot understand something without understanding its place in a larger whole.
1. Observation
2. Set of Potential Explanations
3. Comparison
IBE Form
4. Principle of IBE (the best/reasonable explanation of our observations is usually
true)
5. Conclusion
1. The strength of IBE depends on the set of possible explanations being considered.
Two important features of IBE How will we ever generate all the possible explanations
2. IBE can update as new hypotheses are developed and new evidence comes in
Suppose you find a watch on the ground. Do you assume someone created it or that
Paley's Intelligent Design Argument
it came together randomly? Use the likelihood principle.
Oposition to Paley's Argument Most things are emphatically not all that well designed.
Nothing will insulate the content of science from sociological influences once we
Okruhlik's Theory grand that these influences do affect theory generation. One must take into account
the social structures of science without giving up on science being objective/rationa.
1. The context of discoery and context of justification are not completely
independent
Notes on Okruhlik 2. Systematic baises can only be addressed at the community level (diversity)
3. If the choice among rival theories is comparative, then the preferred theory is
epistemically superior
Claims that these cases are instances of science failing to live up to its own standards
Feminist Empiricism
(sleeping beauty/prince charming model etc.)
Argues that the identities and lived situation of the person matter to what they can
Standpoint Epistemology know. There is no single unified feminist standpoint for all women because women
embody multiple social locations simultaneously
Argues that we should give up the idea of objectivity and just accept the existence
Feminist Postmoderism
of irreconciable plurality of perspectives about the way the world is
Negative label used to describe science-worship in many intellectual circles (thinks
Scientism
science has too much power)
Human beings are part of the natural world and since science studies the natural
Naturalism
world, science can certainly contribute to the answering of philosophical questions
Demarcation Problem How to distinguish between science and pseudoscience
Rationalism Reason and logic are the fundamental source of all human knowledge
Empiricism Sense experience is the fundamental source of all human knowledge
1. Accept only what is certain
2. Start by gaining certainty of simple claims
Descartes Rationalist Method
3. Then use that knowledge to gain understanding of complex claims
4. Use demonstrations that involve deductive reasoning
Descartes Theory You cannot know anything for certain
An argument's premises logically entail its conclusion. If the premises are true then
Deductive Argument
the conclusion must be true
Principle of Sufficient Reason Every event that occurs must have a rational explanation
The Mechanistic Approach Focuses on decomposition into component parts and their interactions
Descriptive refers to how things actually are and normative relates to how things
Descriptive vs. Normative
should be
Metaphysics is an area of philosophy concerned with what there is in the universe
Metaphysics vs Epistemology and the nature of what exists. Epistemology is a related area interested in knowledge
and how we know things about the universe.
Three Branches of Philosophy Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics
Inductive Argument Those that make their conclusions merely probable.
Even an infinite number of experiences of constant conjunction cannot give rise to
new knowledge of a necessary connection between the two events. We shouldn't
Inductive Skeptism (Hume)
believe in causation. We can never be justified in believing a hypothesis based on
evidence
The assumption that the future would resemble the past (that nature continues
Circular Reasoning
uniformly the same)
, 1. Empiricism is true
2. Both deductive and inductive inferences are reliable and central to science
Logical Empiricism
3. Statements have meaning only if they can be confirmed by observation
4. Science is the systematic tracking of the patterns of our experiences
Knowledge that is justified by reason and definition alone without appealing to
A priori (analytics truths)
experience
A posteriori (empirical truths) Knowledge that is justified by appealing to experience or experimental results
Descartes on External World Skepticism
Wanted to use math an dlogic to understand how to confirm the truth of various
Logical Empiricists
claims by connecting them with observations aquired from senses
Analytic sentences are true or false simply in virtue of the meanings of the terms
Analytic Synthetic Distinction within them (regardless of the way the world is). Synthetic sentences are true or false
in virtue of both the meanings of the words and the way the world is.
The meaning of a sentence is determined by its method of verification. If a sentence
Verifiability Theory of Meaning
cannot be verified by observation, then it has no meaning.
Holism Cannot understand something without understanding its place in a larger whole.
1. Observation
2. Set of Potential Explanations
3. Comparison
IBE Form
4. Principle of IBE (the best/reasonable explanation of our observations is usually
true)
5. Conclusion
1. The strength of IBE depends on the set of possible explanations being considered.
Two important features of IBE How will we ever generate all the possible explanations
2. IBE can update as new hypotheses are developed and new evidence comes in
Suppose you find a watch on the ground. Do you assume someone created it or that
Paley's Intelligent Design Argument
it came together randomly? Use the likelihood principle.
Oposition to Paley's Argument Most things are emphatically not all that well designed.
Nothing will insulate the content of science from sociological influences once we
Okruhlik's Theory grand that these influences do affect theory generation. One must take into account
the social structures of science without giving up on science being objective/rationa.
1. The context of discoery and context of justification are not completely
independent
Notes on Okruhlik 2. Systematic baises can only be addressed at the community level (diversity)
3. If the choice among rival theories is comparative, then the preferred theory is
epistemically superior
Claims that these cases are instances of science failing to live up to its own standards
Feminist Empiricism
(sleeping beauty/prince charming model etc.)
Argues that the identities and lived situation of the person matter to what they can
Standpoint Epistemology know. There is no single unified feminist standpoint for all women because women
embody multiple social locations simultaneously
Argues that we should give up the idea of objectivity and just accept the existence
Feminist Postmoderism
of irreconciable plurality of perspectives about the way the world is
Negative label used to describe science-worship in many intellectual circles (thinks
Scientism
science has too much power)
Human beings are part of the natural world and since science studies the natural
Naturalism
world, science can certainly contribute to the answering of philosophical questions
