Week 4 Quiz

In this course, which statement defines rationalism?

Select one.

• All knowledge of the world comes from experience
• Some substantive knowledge of the world comes from reason independent of experience
• The senses never give us any knowledge of the world
• Nothing about the world can be known with certainty, by reason or by the senses

In this course, which statement defines empiricism?

Select one.

• Some knowledge of the world comes from reason alone
• Reasoning plays no part in gaining knowledge
• Only beliefs that cannot be doubted count as knowledge
• All knowledge of the world comes from experience

Which description fits Descartes' methodical doubt?

Select one.

• Setting aside every belief open to any doubt, to find one that has none
• A conclusion that nothing perceived by the senses is real
• A claim that a powerful deceiver really is fooling everyone
• A rule that we should believe only what most people believe

The evil deceiver asks: what can I know if everything I perceive might be faked? Which author and work does the course credit for this thought experiment?

Select one.

• René Descartes, Discourse on the Method
• John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book II
• René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (1641)
• David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

In John Veitch's English translation, which work and part is the source of the line "I think, therefore I am (COGITO ERGO SUM)"?

Select one.

• Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy, the Second Meditation
• Descartes' Discourse on the Method, Part IV
• Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy, the First Meditation
• Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book I

True or false: the English words "I think, therefore I am" in Veitch's translation are Descartes' own words, since Descartes wrote them in English.

True or false.

• True
• False

Dataset B, argument 1 (illustrative): "If knowledge requires certainty, then I know very little. Knowledge requires certainty. So I know very little." Which form does it have?

Select one.

• Modus ponens
• Denying the consequent
• Denying the antecedent
• Hypothetical syllogism

How does the course key Dataset B's argument 1 (illustrative), about knowledge and certainty?

Select one.

• Sound, because its form is valid
• Invalid, because its conclusion sounds gloomy
• Valid; soundness is not keyed, since whether knowledge requires certainty is open
• Unsound, because knowledge does not require certainty

Which philosopher and work compare the mind at the start of life to white paper and trace every idea to sensation and reflection?

Select one.

• René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy
• David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
• René Descartes, Discourse on the Method
• John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

Which statements about the problem of induction are accurate? Select all that apply.

Select every option that applies.

• It is raised in David Hume's An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
• It holds that no non-circular argument shows the future will resemble the past
• It shows that science and forecasting are useless
• It comes from Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy
• It shows that predictions from past patterns are certain