Question 1

Thales was the first Western philosopher to argue that the ultimate reality was air.

Accepted Answer

Thales, the first Western philosopher, posited that the ultimate reality or primary substance was not air, but water.

Question 2

According to Descartes, Leibniz, and Berkeley, one's own ideas are the only things one can know directly.

Accepted Answer

According to Descartes' method of doubt, one can only be certain of one's own thoughts and ideas. Leibniz and Berkeley also believed in a similar idea of the primacy of one's own ideas and perceptions. Therefore, the correct answer is A.

Question 3

According to Democritus, although things can be created and destroyed, the atoms that they are made of can neither be created nor destroyed.

Accepted Answer

Democritus proposed the idea of atoms, which he believed to be indivisible and indestructible. He thought that atoms could combine to form different substances, but they themselves could not be created or destroyed. This theory was later refined by modern chemistry and physics, but the basic idea that atoms are fundamental building blocks of matter that cannot be created or destroyed still holds true.

Question 4

According to idealism , the basis of the existence of all things is the mind (whether our own minds or the mind of God).

Accepted Answer

Idealism holds that the material world is an illusion and that the true basis of reality lies in the mind, either our own minds or the mind of God. Therefore, according to idealism, the existence of all things stems from the mind.

Question 5

If you were to embrace Spinoza's metaphysics, you would also have to embrace an idea of radical freedom.

Accepted Answer

Spinoza's metaphysics, centered on the concept of determinism and the idea that everything that happens is a result of the natural laws of the universe, actually argues against the notion of radical freedom. He believed that everything, including human actions, is fully determined by the cause-and-effect relationships inherent in the natural world.

Question 6

Heraclitus appears to believe that underlying all change was an eternal principle, logos, that did not change.

Accepted Answer

According to Heraclitus, the principle of logos was eternal and did not change, and it underlies all change in the world.

Question 7

Contemporary scientists theorize about what is ultimately real, but in complicated mathematical terms that very few laypeople can follow.

Accepted Answer

Contemporary scientists often use complex mathematical language to describe their theories, which can be difficult for non-experts to understand.

Question 8

Descartes was the first idealist.

Accepted Answer

Descartes is often associated with rationalism and dualism, not idealism. Idealism primarily focuses on the idea that reality is fundamentally mental or immaterial, a concept more closely associated with philosophers like George Berkeley.

Question 9

Scientists approach reality as something measurable and testable. Therefore, religious people are unable to accept the findings of science.

Accepted Answer

This statement is a generalization and cannot be applied to all religious people. Many religious individuals accept and incorporate scientific findings into their beliefs. The two approaches, science and religion, are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Question 10

According to Plato, the "World of Becoming" is more real than the "World of Being."

Accepted Answer

According to Plato, the "World of Being" is more real and permanent than the "World of Becoming". The "World of Being" refers to the world of ideas or Forms, which exist independently of human experience, while the "World of Becoming" refers to the material world of sensory experience that is constantly changing and full of imperfection. Plato believed that true knowledge and understanding can only come from an awareness of the world of Being, which is the ultimate reality.

Question 11

Berkeley's statement "esse est percipi" implies a form of subjective idealism.

Accepted Answer

Berkeley's statement "esse est percipi" translates to "to be is to be perceived" or "existence is perception." This statement implies that the material world only exists through our perception of it, and therefore reality is subjective. This is a central tenet of subjective idealism.

Question 12

In the Western metaphysical tradition, there are two tests for what is "most real": that everything else depends on it, and that it is continuously being created and destroyed

Accepted Answer

In the Western metaphysical tradition, the two tests for what is "most real" are typically that everything else depends on it, and that it does not depend on anything else for its existence, not that it is continuously being created and destroyed.

Question 13

Plato's belief in the priority of an immaterial and eternal world became the central thesis of Saint Augustine's philosophy, while Aristotle's view of a living, growing, goal-directed universe played an important role in the thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. Saint Augustine was heavily influenced by Plato's philosophy, particularly his belief in the existence of an eternal and immaterial world. Saint Thomas Aquinas, on the other hand, was influenced by Aristotle's emphasis on the natural world, but still incorporated elements of Plato's ideas into his own philosophy.

Question 14

Aristotle agreed with Plato in holding that forms or substances exist in a separate world, independent of particular things in the world.

Accepted Answer

Aristotle disagreed with Plato on the existence of forms in a separate world; he believed forms are inherent in the objects themselves and do not exist independently.

Question 15

Because it was built on the "the will to live," Schopenhauer's metaphysics was essentially optimistic.

Accepted Answer

Schopenhauer believed that the will to live was ultimately unsatisfiable and led to perpetual suffering, making his metaphysics fundamentally pessimistic.

Question 16

Kant argues that our minds automatically and necessarily impose categories such as space and time on the world we experience, without which we could not make sense of our experience.

Accepted Answer

According to Kant's philosophy, our minds impose categories such as space and time on the world we experience, and without these categories, we could not make sense of our experience. Therefore, the statement is true.

Question 17

According to Immanuel Kant, space and time are aspects of the physical world that we discover through experience.

Accepted Answer

According to Immanuel Kant, space and time are not discovered through experience but are instead a priori intuitions that structure all of our experiences.

Question 18

According to Bertrand Russell, if reality differs from its appearances, we have to wonder whether we have any way to know what reality is at all.

Accepted Answer

According to the skeptical argument put forward by Bertrand Russell, if reality differs from its appearances, we have no way to know what reality is at all. This is because we rely on our senses to access reality, and if our senses are unreliable, we cannot trust our perception of reality. Therefore, we are left in doubt about what reality really is.

Question 19

Parmenides thought that the world is unreal because reality, at its core, must be unchanging, and the world is in a state of constant change.

Accepted Answer

According to Parmenides, reality must be unchanging and the world is in a state of constant change, therefore he believed that the world is unreal.

Question 20

Hegel's idealism envisions a single cosmos, an all-embracing Spirit that develops through constant internal conflict.

Accepted Answer

Hegel's idealism proposes a unified cosmos where the development of Spirit is achieved through a dialectical process of internal conflict and synthesis.

Quiz 4: The Nature of Reality