Deck 7: Is There a Spiritual Reality Exploring the Philosophy of Religion

Question 1

What were Locke's criticisms of the rationalists? What was his theory about human knowledge?

Answer 1

not answered

Question 2

Contrast the philosophical positions of rationalism and empiricism with respect to human knowledge.

Answer 2

not answered

Question 3

What does "esse est percipi" mean? Explain the role of this idea in George Berkeley's
philosophy.

Answer 3

not answered

Question 4

Frederick Streng thought that studies of religion are impoverished if they .

A) compare apples and oranges
B) are restricted to academic concerns
C) neglect people's actual beliefs
D) neglect the variety of religious beliefs

Question 5

If you have a religious background, does the description of your own religion seem accurate? If you don't have a religious background, what are your impressions of the descriptions of religions given in the text?

Question 6

Which argument for God's existence do you think is the strongest? Which do you thin
is the weakest?

Question 7

What does it mean to say that a religion may not be theistic?

A) it may not posit any gods
B) it may be restricted to one culture
C) it may not be attractive to all people
D) it may have no one set of rules

Question 8

What stands out to you about the Western, monotheistic religions? Do they seem to you to have a lot in common?

Question 9

Explain how the notions of impressions and ideas shaped Hume's epistemology.

Question 10

Does the ontological argument for God's existence make sense to you? What is its
weakest point?

Question 11

What stands out to you about the Eastern religions? Does a common thread hold them together?

Question 12

What is religion? Do you agree with Streng's statement that one must understand all
religions to understand any of them?.

Question 13

What was unique about Kant's philosophy, and how did he try to synthesize the views of rationalists and empiricists together?

Question 14

Feuerbach's overall project was to .

A) undermine religious belief
B) create a secular basis for religion
C) study religions comparatively
D) argue against the existence of God

Question 15

What was David Hume skeptical about, and what reasons did he give for his skepticism?

Question 16

Why did George Berkeley not believe in the existence of matter? What did he think existed instead?

Question 17

Ludwig Feuerbach thought that we "create" God because we .

A) cannot explain many things that we observe
B) have an idealized sense of self that we project
C) have the power to realize anything in our imagination
D) need to have something be the center of our religion

Question 18

Compare and contrast the related "idealisms" of George Berkeley and Gottfried
Leibniz.

Question 19

What problem did Bertrand Russell point to regarding knowledge and sense-data?

Question 20

What was Leibniz's case against Locke? Explain the main issues at variance between
them.

Question 21

Judaism is based primarily on .

A) the holy scriptures
B) following tradition
C) being free of suffering
D) monotheism

Question 22

Aquinas' argument from gradations of goodness concludes that .

A) there must be a designer of the universe
B) there must be a God that we can know
C) there must be a most perfect being
D) the Christian God must exist

Question 23

The argument from evil against God's existence says that .

A) there can be no evil being
B) evil must be an illusion
C) a perfect being cannot exist
D) a perfect being would not allow evil

Question 24

Keiji Nishitani thought that the main function of religion is to .

A) help people overcome deficiencies
B) provide a set of ethical rules
C) provide meaning to life
D) give people a sense of belonging

Question 25

Buddhism is focused on the goal of .

A) being free of one's desires
B) knowing ultimate reality
C) relieving other people's suffering
D) disbelieving in God

Question 26

In "The Ethics of Belief," W.K. Clifford argues that .

A) God does not exist
B) religious beliefs are unethical
C) thinking critically about one's beliefs is not always necessary
D) it is always wrong to believe anything under insufficient evidence

Question 27

The key assumption of Anselm's ontological argument for God's existence is that .

A) if God exists, he exists necessarily
B) if God exists, we would know it
C) we can conceive of God existing
D) God must exist

Question 28

The main source of resistance to the argument from evil is to say that .

A) God is omnipotent so he is free to allow some evil
B) free beings are allowed to do evil
C) evil has to exist in order for God to exist
D) God must exist in order for evil to exist

Question 29

Daoism is focused on the goal of .

A) being free of one's desires
B) coming into harmony with reality
C) relieving one's suffering
D) seeking after truth

Question 30

Pascal's "wager" is based mainly on the supposition that .

A) it is always wise to wager on whatever is the best outcome
B) it is best to wager on the eventuality of evil being overcome
C) one cannot lose anything of value by wagering on God's existence
D) God's existence is necessary since he is the greatest possible being

Question 31

Hinduism considers ultimate reality to be .

A) always changing
B) the gods
C) the self
D) unknowable