Deck 6: The Scientific View of the World

Question 1

The influential writers Francis Bacon and René Descartes, both prophets of the new science, did all of the following except

A) brand virtually all beliefs of preceding generations (outside religion) as worthless.
B) ridicule the tendency to put faith in ancient books on questions having to do with the workings of nature.
C) attack the earlier methods of seeking knowledge.
D)argue that one must start with definitions and general propositions and then discover what further knowledge could be logically deduced from the definitions thus accepted

Answer 1

argue that one must start with definitions and general propositions and then discover what further knowledge could be logically deduced from the definitions thus accepted

Question 2

Key to understanding Francis Bacon's thought are his claims that

A) one should use deductive thinking to prove metaphysical theories.
B) one should use inductive thinking to acquire knowledge and that knowledge should be useful.
C)to acquire real knowledge, one must start with certain definitions; moreover, true knowledge must be carefully separated from useful knowledge.
D) mathematical knowledge, built upon both inductive and deductive reasoning, was essential to understand nature.

Answer 2

one should use inductive thinking to acquire knowledge and that knowledge should be useful.

Question 3

Copernicus' great contribution to our understanding of the universe was to

A) theorize that the sun was at the center of the solar system.
B) prove by experiment that the sun was the center of the solar system.
C) prove that the earth was not flat.
D) prove that the moon revolved around the earth.

Answer 3

theorize that the sun was at the center of the solar system.

Question 4

John Kepler's laws of planetary motion

A) destroyed the Copernican theory of the cosmos.
B) aggravated the conflicts between Tycho Brahe and Copernicus.
C) showed that the planets orbited the sun in elliptical, rather than circular, fashion.
D) showed that the planets orbited the sun in circular, rather than elliptical orbits, as Tycho Brahe had claimed.

Question 5

Galileo, looking at the sky through his telescope, observed that

A) most heavenly bodies, except for the moon, were luminous and insubstantial.
B) heavenly bodies were made of the same kind of material as the earth.
C) heavenly bodies were just as traditional Christian belief taught.
D ) it was impossible to deduce the nature of heavenly bodies through observation, and therefore, further astronomical research should focus on constructing mathematical formulas rather than experiments.

Question 6

Sir Isaac Newton's greatest discovery or insight was

A) universal gravitation.
B) the heliocentric nature of the universe.
C) the dualism of the universe.
D) the elliptical orbit of the planets.

Question 7

The scientific revolution

A) required the greatest spiritual readjustment in human history.
B) rediscovered the scientific ideas of the great ancient thinkers Aristotle and Ptolemy.
C) brilliantly synthesized the conclusions of natural science with biblical revelation.
D) demonstrated the limitations of human reason.

Question 8

Besides natural science, a potent seventeenth-century force causing a questioning of old beliefs _was

A) the exploration of the world overseas.
B) the discovery of several previously unknown works of Plato.
C) huge famines combined with disillusionment at the ineffectiveness of monarchical government.
D) all of the choices are correct.

Question 9

At the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the next, the main force in putting an end to beliefs in the supernatural powers and evil designs of witches was

A) revulsion at the slaughter of hundreds of innocent people.
B) the growing influence of Protestantism.
C) higher and more consistent standards for evidence in legal proceedings.
D) a decline in the number of witches.

Question 10

Which of the following new scientific disciplines arose as a consequence of the new interest in history

A) paleography
B) numismatics.
C) chronology.
D) all of the choices are correct.

Question 11

Locke's deepest book, an Essay Concerning the Human Understanding (1690), concluded that

A) true knowledge was derived from experience.
B) the mind had an inevitable disposition to think in certain ways.
C) the mind was dualistic.
D) all of the choices are correct.

Question 12

John Locke emphasized that sound government rested on

A) universal suffrage.
B) the right of property.
C) democracy.
D) divine sanction.

Question 13

Explain and contrast the method of deductive reasoning widely practiced in the Middle Ages with the inductive approach to the study of knowledge championed by Bacon and others.

Question 14

Discuss the contributions of Bacon and Descartes to modern thought. Did their thinking contain any important weaknesses or gaps?

Question 15

Describe the traditional view of the cosmos, based on the thinking of Aristotle and Ptolemy. How did the seventeenth-century scientific revolution change the traditional view?

Question 16

Describe the evolution of astronomical thought from Copernicus to Newton. What was Newton's great achievement of synthesis?

Question 17

What influence did the new interest in science and evidence have upon the study of history? What new branches of historical investigation were created or perfected in the seventeenth century?

Question 18

Compare and contrast the views of Hobbes and Locke.

Question 19

Discuss the major features of John Locke's scientific and political thought. How did his scientific notions influence his political conceptions?

Question 20

Discuss the implications of the seventeenth century scientific revolution for European society. Why did it help form the basis for the concepts of progress and optimism?

Question 21

How did Bacon and Descartes herald the beginning of the new scientific approach to knowledge and the world?

Question 22

In what ways did the new methodologies of observation and experimentation expand knowledge of the human body?

Question 23

How was scientific knowledge institutionalized in the seventeenth century?

Question 24

What were some practical applications of the new scientific knowledge that contributed to European ascendancy, both militarily and economically?

Question 25

What was the importance of the English law of evidence?

Question 26

Why was the establishment of a common system of dating a significant development in the seventeenth century?

Question 27

What were the main assumptions of natural law philosophy?