Deck 3: Who Are You Consciousness, Identity, and the Self

Question 1

Socrates thought that the soul is immortal because it .

A) is unchangeable
B) can affect things
C) cannot be seen
D) is the source of the will

Answer 1

A

Question 2

In what way could the period of about 800 to 200 BCE be considered the "Axial
Period" of history? What does this term mean?

Answer 2

not answered

Question 3

Describe the influence of Homer on early Greek thought. How did he pave the way for philosophical thought?

Answer 3

not answered

Question 4

Plato had a concept of a three-part self constituted by the elements of .

A) mind, matter, and soul
B) the physical, mental, and emotional
C) soul, body, and mind
D) reason, appetite, and spirit

Question 5

Describe and explain how Socrates' self-concept guided his thoughts about wisdom and how to pursue it.

Question 6

Describe the philosophical concerns of the pre-Socratic philosophers. How did their views differ from each other?

Question 7

Why did Descartes seek to doubt everything that could be doubted? Do you think that is a valuable enterprise?

Question 8

How were Locke and Hume's approaches to the self as consciousness similar? Why did they come to different conclusions?

Question 9

Descartes' cogito, ergo sum means that .

A) there is a thinking self that certainly exists
B) human identity is defined by the capacity to think
C) the self must be an immaterial thing
D) the mind is not a physical thing

Question 10

Plato likened the soul to a chariot because .

A) he thought of it as the captain of the will
B) it has two horses with independent wills
C) he thought of the self as drawn by outside forces
D) a chariot can go wherever its horses take it

Question 11

What is the psyche, and what did Socrates believe about it? Why did he believe as he did?

Question 12

Explain why Socrates was arrested. How did he respond to the charges against him?

Question 13

Why have influential thinkers, past and present, considered the soul as immortal?
What do you think of their reasons for thinking so?

Question 14

What do attempts to bring to light the unconscious contribute to our understanding of the self?

Question 15

Describe how Socrates greeted the news of his condemnation. How did his philosophy prepare him for this eventuality?

Question 16

What was René Descartes' overall philosophical project?

A) to determine the true nature of the self
B) to determine mathematical models of thinking
C) to build knowledge on a foundation he could be absolutely certain of
D) to prove the existence of God

Question 17

St. Augustine's views on the self .

A) were totally original
B) were very different from the Platonists
C) presaged more contemporary views about the mental and the physical
D) incorporated the Platonist view of the self as a separate immaterial thing

Question 18

Describe and explain the underlying philosophy of knowledge that guided Socrates'
method of knowledge.

Question 19

Who were the sophists, and why did they oppose Socrates?

Question 20

What were the most central and important of Socrates' teachings? What do you think
about them, at a first read?

Question 21

Which of the following correctly characterizes Freud's beliefs about the self?

A) There are two selves, one conscious and one unconscious.
B) Our true self is unconscious and we have to make special efforts to know it.
C) Our true self is conscious and has to be carefully separated from the unconscious.
D) There is no self because the parts of the mind are knowable only separately.

Question 22

Functionalism is the view that .

A) the function of the brain is to generate the mind
B) the mind works in essentially the same way as the brain
C) the brain has functions that can be experienced as the mind
D) mental states have physically-definable functions

Question 23

Gilbert Ryle's concept of the mind was based on his idea that it is a mistake to .

A) think of the self as a thinking thing
B) think of the self as a physical thing
C) separate the physical and the mental
D) theorize about things we cannot experience

Question 24

Kant thought that Hume was wrong to say that .

A) all knowledge arises out of experience
B) the self delineates the possible forms of knowledge
C) the self is an immaterial thing
D) the self is just conscious experience

Question 25

Functionalism recognizes the possibility of .

A) mental states in nonphysical beings
B) other beings besides humans having mental states
C) mental states being identified with physical states
D) personal identity being nonphysical

Question 26

Hume's ideas about the self were based on .

A) the nature of the mind
B) the nature of conscious experience
C) the relation between the physical and mental
D) the relation between the intellect and emotions

Question 27

Locke thought that identity of a self through time could be established on the basis of .

A) matter
B) memory
C) the will
D) experience

Question 28

Locke was an empiricist in that he thought that .

A) the self is a physical thing
B) consciousness defines personal identity
C) the mind is capable of learning about the world
D) all knowledge originates in sense experience

Question 29

Eliminative materialism is the view that .

A) neuroscience will provide a complete view of the mind
B) neuroscience will provide a complete view of the brain
C) mental states are really identifiable as brain states
D) material descriptions are eliminable in favor of the mental