Philosophy Exam 1 Study Guide

Sensory experience

________- believing some claim because you saw something, heard something, etc.

Testimony

________- believing some claim because you read about it or were told it was true by someone else.

Slippery slope

________- when one inappropriately concludes that some further chain of events, ideas, or beliefs will follow from some initial event, idea, or belief and thus we should reject the initial event, idea, or belief.

Memory

________- believing some claim because you remember its being true.

Hasty generalization

________- a person fallaciously draws a conclusion about characteristics of a whole group based upon premises concerning characteristics of a small sample of the group.

Natural

________ evils- do not result from intentions or negligence.

Introspection

________- believing some claim because the claim is about what is going on in your own mind, e.g., what you are currently thinking or currently feeling.

Inductive arguments

________- the speaker intends the conclusion to follow from the premises with the probability or likelihood such that, if all the premises are true, then the conclusion probably or likely is true, but it is still possible the conclusion is false.

Metaphysical

________- all value terms refer to our own personal attitudes toward various objects, events, individuals, etc.

Rational argumentation

________- insisting that every claim we might be inclined to accept as true is logically supported with sufficient evidence.

Epistemic

________- we know to what objects value terms refer via the fact that we have direct access to our own personal attitudes.

False dilemma

________- fallacy of concluding something based upon premises that include only two options, when, in fact there are three or more options.

Axiology

________- study of value itself.

Philosophical issues

________ always contain historically important elements, but are always contemporary in some important sense.

God

________ allows evil to exist so that you can respond to it, thus developing and perfecting our characters.

Love

________ of wisdom, devoted to understanding the fundamental nature of everything.

Metaphysics

________- study of the ultimate nature of reality.

Philosophy permeates

________ pop culture.

non evidential factors

Our intuitions are easily contaminated by ________- i.e., by aspects of our culture, upbringing, education, current emotional states, personal biases, desires, etc.

Global skepticism

________- view that no one knows anything or that there is almost nothing that anyone truly knows.

Ad hominem fallacies

________- someone concludes that a persons claims or arguments are false or not worth listening to because of premises that concern an attack on the actions, personality, or ideology of the person putting forward the claim or argument.

Evidential reasons

________- believe in something if there is evidence to believe in it.

Metaphysical

________- all value terms refer to objects in some reality that is inaccessible to us by way of our senses, the realm of the forms.

Epistemology

________- study of knowledge itself.

God

________ is an intelligent entity who created the universe.

Epistemic

________- we know to what objects value terms refer via the fact that our reason is in continual intellectual contact with the above mentioned reality.

Deductive arguments 

the speaker intends the conclusion to follow the premises with absolute certainty; if all premises are true the conclusion must be true without any doubt

Inductive arguments 

the speaker intends the conclusion to follow from the premises with the probability or likelihood such that, if all the premises are true, then the conclusion probably or likely is true, but it is still possible the conclusion is false

Red herring 

someone uses claims and arguments that have nothing to do with the issue in order to get someone to draw a conclusion they believe to be true

Hasty generalization

a person fallaciously draws a conclusion about characteristics of a whole group based upon premises concerning characteristics of a small sample of the group

Slippery slope

when one inappropriately concludes that some further chain of events, ideas, or beliefs will follow from some initial event, idea, or belief and thus we should reject the initial event, idea, or belief

False dilemma

fallacy of concluding something based upon premises that include only two options, when, in fact there are three or more options

Argument from inappropriate authority

fallacy that sounds like what it is, incorrectly drawing a conclusion from premises based upon a non-credible, non-qualified, or illegitimate authority figure

Ad hominem fallacies

someone concludes that a persons claims or arguments are false or not worth listening to because of premises that concern an attack on the actions, personality, or ideology of the person putting forward the claim or argument

Assigned Reading 3

Cartmanland and the Problem of Evil

Moral evils

misuse of free will; those who make "bad calls" can be held responsible

Natural evils

do not result from intentions or negligence

Prudential reasons

reason to believe something if it makes you better off

Evidential reasons

believe in something if there is evidence to believe in it

Conceptual analysis

insisting on clarity in our ideas, thoughts, and words

Rational argumentation

insisting that every claim we might be inclined to accept as true is logically supported with sufficient evidence

Metaphysics

study of the ultimate nature of reality

Epistemology

study of knowledge itself

Axiology

study of value itself

Set of sentences some of which

the premises

Are supposed to provide sufficient evidence for believing one another

the conclusion

Metaphysical

all value terms refer to objects in some reality that is inaccessible to us by way of our senses, the realm of the forms

Epistemic

we know to what objects value terms refer via the fact that our reason is in continual intellectual contact with the above mentioned reality

Metaphysical

all value terms refer to our own personal attitudes toward various objects, events, individuals, etc

Epistemic

we know to what objects value terms refer via the fact that we have direct access to our own personal attitudes

Sensory experience

believing some claim because you saw something, heard something, etc

Memory

believing some claim because you remember its being true

Testimony

believing some claim because you read about it or were told it was true by someone else

Introspection

believing some claim because the claim is about what is going on in your own mind, e.g., what you are currently thinking or currently feeling

Reason

believing some claim because you logically inferred it was true

It sounds metaphysically spooky

that is, it seems to allow the possibility that I could know very specific facts about literary history without doing any research at all

Our intuitions are easily contaminated by non-evidential factors

i.e., by aspects of our culture, upbringing, education, current emotional states, personal biases, desires, etc

It sounds metaphysically incomplete

that is, it does not seem to be able to account for knowledge we have of logical or mathematical truths, claims about the future, claims about unobservable entities, or even claims about empirical knowledge itself

Local skepticism

view that we lack knowledge of a certain specific claim or of a set of claims that are related in some way

Global skepticism

view that no one knows anything or that there is almost nothing that anyone truly knows