PHI 310 Midterm Study Questions

1. How are Pragmatists similar to Romantics?

1. How are Pragmatists similar to Romantics?

• Both value feelings, personal experience, and nature.

• Feelings and reason are connected, not opposites.

Difference: Pragmatists emphasize practical results and consequences.

2. Emerson — What is the “Self”?

2. Emerson — What is the “Self”?

• Self: Your inner voice, intuition, and authentic identity.

• “Gleam of light”: Your own inner insight or truth.

• Trust your own thoughts rather than blindly following society.

• Your deeper self connects you to nature and universal truths, not just personal opinions.

Key Idea: Trust your inner wisdom to understand yourself and the world.

3. Emerson — Self-Reliance & Nonconformity

3. Emerson — Self-Reliance & Nonconformity

• Nonconformity: Think independently instead of blindly following society.

• Goodness: Question society's definition of right and wrong.

• Integrity: Stay true to your own reason and conscience.

• Subjectivism/Relativism? Not necessarily. Emerson believes personal intuition can reveal deeper truths, not that everyone's beliefs are automatically correct.

Key Idea: True morality comes from independent thought, not social approval.

4. Emerson — Can You Ever Be Wrong?

4. Emerson — Can You Ever Be Wrong?

• Yes! You can misunderstand your own nature or values.

• Self-reliance doesn't mean you're always right.

• You must reflect, learn, and develop self-understanding.

• Right: Acting according to your true nature, not simply your impulses.

Key Idea: Trust yourself, but recognize you can misunderstand yourself and grow.

5. Peirce — Fixation of Belief

5. Peirce — Fixation of Belief

• Main Idea: Doubt starts inquiry; forming an agreed understanding ends it.

• Why crazy? Suggests the goal is simply eliminating doubt, rather than discovering objective truth.

• Why reasonable? Doubt creates uncertainty; beliefs help us make decisions and act.

• Peirce's Solution: Scientific inquiry produces beliefs tested against reality, rather than beliefs accepted just from social pressure.

Key Idea: Inquiry begins with doubt and aims for stable belief, ideally grounded in reality.

6. Peirce — Four Methods of Fixing Belief

6. Peirce — Four Methods of Fixing Belief

• Tenacity: Stubbornly hold beliefs; ignore opposing evidence.

• Authority: Accept beliefs from powerful institutions (government, religion).

• A Priori: Believe what seems logical or reasonable to you.

• Scientific Method: Use evidence, observation, and testing.

Best Method: Science — Reality determines beliefs, allowing people to eventually reach the same conclusion (consensus).

7. True or False? Explain.

a. Peirce thinks we should adopt the scientific method because it tells us about the permanent real world of objects and natural laws.

b. Emerson and Peirce are both telling us the story of how we do and should find satisfactory ways of thinking and acting.

c. Peirce thinks what is missing from Descartes’s kind of a priori reasoning about the world is the idea of reality.

d. Descartes tries to do philosophy by establishing clear and distinct ideas of things like spirits and material bodies; Peirce thinks that D.’s ideas are not clear enough.

7. True or False?

• A. TRUE: Science reveals an external reality governed by natural laws.

• B. TRUE: Both Emerson and Peirce explore how people develop beliefs that guide their actions.

• C. TRUE (with qualification): Descartes relies on reason; Peirce argues his method lacks sufficient testing against independent reality.

• D. TRUE: Descartes emphasizes clear and distinct ideas; Peirce demands greater clarity through practical consequences.

8. Peirce — Highest Grade of Clarity

8. Peirce — Highest Grade of Clarity

• 1st Grade: Recognize an idea.

• 2nd Grade: Clearly define it.

• 3rd Grade: Understand its practical, observable effects.

• Why? Helps us test ideas, predict consequences, and distinguish meaningful differences.

Key Idea: Fully understanding something means knowing what practical difference it makes.

9. Peirce — What Does Reality Do?

9. Peirce — What Does Reality Do?

• Reality exists independently of individual opinions.

• Reality affects our experiences and beliefs.

• Continued scientific inquiry leads investigators toward the same conclusion (consensus).

Key Idea: Reality constrains inquiry and leads us toward shared truth.

10. Peirce — Force, Acceleration & Reality

10. Peirce — Force, Acceleration & Reality

• Force: Whether force causes acceleration or is acceleration makes no practical difference to its meaning.

• Reality: Whether reality causes inquiry to reach consensus or is understood through that eventual consensus, its practical meaning is the same.

• Why? Peirce defines concepts through their observable effects, not mysterious hidden causes.

Key Takeaway: Pragmatism = the meaning of an idea lies in its practical consequences.

11. Peirce vs. James — Truth

11. Peirce vs. James — Truth

• Not exactly. Both connect truth to practical results.

• Peirce: Truth = what investigators would eventually agree on (consensus).

• James: Truth = beliefs that prove reliable and satisfying through experience.

Key Difference: Peirce emphasizes consensus; James emphasizes successful practical consequences.

12. Emerson & Peirce — Humans and Nature

12. Emerson & Peirce — Humans and Nature

• Emerson: We are part of nature, not separate from it (transparent eyeball).

• Peirce: Our thoughts are part of our natural interactions with the world.

• Pragmatism: Ideas have meaning through the actions and observable consequences they produce.

Key Idea: Thinking connects us to nature through experience and action.

13. James Brothers — Problem with Healthy-Mindedness

13. James Brothers — Problem with Healthy-Mindedness

• Emerson: Emphasizes optimism, goodness, and trusting ourselves.

• James Brothers (William & Henry): Life also includes suffering, evil, and failure.

• Problem: Excessive optimism can ignore real suffering and life's complexities.

Key Idea: We must acknowledge both the good and bad aspects of reality.

14. James — The Will to Believe

14. James — The Will to Believe

• No. James does not say to ignore evidence or real dangers.

• We can choose to believe when evidence cannot settle an important decision.

• Genuine Option: A choice that is:

  • Live: Believable to us.

  • Forced: Cannot avoid choosing.

  • Momentous: Important consequences.

Key Idea: Faith can guide action when certainty is impossible, but it shouldn't replace available evidence.

15. James — How Do Ideas Become True?

15. James — How Do Ideas Become True?

• Truth is a process: Ideas become verified through experience.

• Verification: Testing beliefs against reality.

• True beliefs:

  • Produce expected results.

  • Help us solve problems and act successfully.

  • Fit with other verified experiences.

Key Idea: Truth is demonstrated through successful practical consequences, not simply believing something.

16. Is Pragmatism a Utilitarianism of Truth?

16. Is Pragmatism a Utilitarianism of Truth?

• Utilitarianism: Morality judged by useful consequences (happiness/well-being).

• Pragmatism: Truth judged by practical consequences and verification.

• Criticism: If truth = usefulness, convenient false beliefs could count as true.

• Response: Truth must work reliably with reality, not just make someone happy.

Key Idea: Usefulness helps establish truth, but not every useful belief is true.

17. Peirce vs. James — Is Truth Subjective?

17. Peirce vs. James — Is Truth Subjective?

• Peirce: Truth = beliefs that would survive unlimited inquiry and reach consensus.

• Criticism: James makes truth whatever satisfies an individual.

• James's Response: Satisfaction alone isn't enough; beliefs must agree with experience, evidence, and other established truths.

• Conclusion: James's truth is not simply personal preference.

Key Idea: Truth must work in reality, not just feel good.

18. James vs. Peirce — Can Truth Change?

18. James vs. Peirce — Can Truth Change?

• James: Beliefs can be true within current experience but later proven false.

• Example: Ptolemaic astronomy worked for centuries but was replaced by better explanations.

• Not everything useful is true: Beliefs must withstand continued testing and experience.

• Absolute Truth: An ideal truth that no future experience could overturn; we cannot assume today's beliefs have reached it.

Key Idea: Truth is provisional and can improve as knowledge grows.

19. James — Dog, Squirrel & Tree

19. James — Dog, Squirrel & Tree

• Question: Does the dog go around the squirrel?

• YES: If "around" means moving around the squirrel's position.

• NO: If "around" means passing in front, behind, and on both sides of the squirrel while it keeps facing the dog.

• Pragmatism: Meaning depends on practical differences, not just words.

Key Idea: Clarify what words mean through their practical consequences to resolve disagreements.

20. James vs. Russell — Truth & Reality

20. James vs. Russell — Truth & Reality

• Russell/Ribeiro: Truth = beliefs matching objective facts.

• Criticism: Pragmatism allows useful illusions to count as truth.

• James's Response: Truth must be verified through experience and fit with reality, not merely provide comfort.

• Reality: The facts, experiences, relationships, and established truths our beliefs must account for.

• Science: Produces reliable predictions and explanations through testing.

Key Idea: For James, true beliefs work because they successfully connect us with reality, not because they simply make us feel good.