Phil 104B S18: Exam 1 Study Guide

PLEASE NOTE: The study guide has been modified to eliminate the material on Kant.

For the exam you will just need to bring something to write with. 

Part I: Fill-in-the-blank. You should know the definitions of the following terms:
  • Philosophy
  • Logic
  • Epistemology
  • Metaphysics
  • Axiology
  • Empiricism
  • tabula rasa
  • a posteriori
  • Rationalism
  • Innate Ideas
  • a priori
  • Skepticism
  • Materialism
  • Idealism
  • Dualism
  • Monism
  • Pluralism
  • Cartesian Dualism
  • Cartesian Circle
  • Distributive Justice
  • Social Contract Theory
  • Primary Quality
  • Secondary Quality
  • Indirect Realism
  • Subjective Idealism
  • Analytic Statement
  • Synthetic Statement
  • Constant Conjunction
  • Pantheism
Part II: Short Answer. You should be able to explain the following concepts and ideas:
  • The three forms of doubt that Descartes considers. For each you should explain the nature of the doubt, which beliefs that form of doubt calls into question, and which beliefs survive that form of doubt
  • Descartes' Cogito Argument
  • Descartes account of thinking things and extended substance. 
  • The Cartesian Circle
  • The two features of every social contract theory
  • Hobbes' account of life in the state of nature
  • Hobbes' explanation of how we escape the state of nature and form a civilization.
  • Locke's account of the three functions of the state
  • Locke's argument for indirect realism
  • The two sorts of ideas Berkeley considers
  • Berkeley's Inconceivability Argument for Subjective Idealism
  • The meaning of Berkeley's claim that "esse is percipi"
  • The three arguments Berkeley gives against Locke's Indirect Realism. 
  • The two types of "perceptions of the mind" discussed by Hume. How do we tell the difference?
  • Hume's two arguments for the claim that all ideas can be traced back to some original impression or impressions 
  • The difference between Hume's account of Relations of Ideas and Matters of Fact
  • Hume's account of the source for our idea of causality
  • Hume's account of the Problem of Induction
Part III: Essay. You should be prepared to write a short essay in which you use two of the philosophers we have studied this unit to explain the difference between rationalism and empiricism. Furthermore, you should explain which of these two positions you like the best and why. 
Comments