Deck 3: Knowledge, Belief, and Evidence

Question 1

We have good reason to doubt a proposition if

A) It conflicts with other propositions we have reason to believe.
B) It conflicts with our background information.
C) It conflicts with the opinions of experts on the topic.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Answer 1

All of the above.

Question 2

When there is good reason to doubt a proposition, we should

A) Reject the proposition out of hand.
B) Proportion our belief to the evidence.
C) Rely on faith or intuition.
D) Ignore the reasons for doubt.

Answer 2

Proportion our belief to the evidence.

Question 3

Commonsense skeptics

A) Consider everything that lacks adequate evidence suspect.
B) Reject propositions that aren't certain.
C) Reject propositions that they don't like.
D) Believe that knowledge is impossible.

Answer 3

Consider everything that lacks adequate evidence suspect.

Question 4

According to the text, our fundamental sources of knowledge include

A) Perception, introspection, intuition, and faith.
B) Perception, reason, memory, and desire.
C) Perception, memory, reason, and extrasensory perception.
D) Perception, introspection, memory, and reason.

Question 5

All of the following are sources of knowledge except

A) memory.
B) Introspection.
C) perception.
D) intuition.

Question 6

Expert opinion

A) is never to be trusted.
B) is to be trusted only within the expert's field of study.
C) cannot be wrong.
D) is always to be trusted.

Question 7

The veracity of mystical experience

A) is confirmed by modern physics.
B) is identical in all areas.
C) is called into question by disagreements among mystics.
D) is a source of knowledge.

Question 8

What type of skepticism does not consider everything that lacks certainty suspect?

A) philosophical skepticism
B) commonsense skepticism
C) pseudoscientific skepticism
D) dispositional skepticism

Question 9

What besides true belief do you need in order to have knowledge?

Question 10

When are you justified in believing a proposition to be true?

Question 11

When do you have good reason for doubting that a proposition is true?

Question 12

Is faith a source of knowledge?

Question 13

Are we justified in believing the claims of astrology?

Question 14

You are justified in believing something only if it is absolutely certain.

Question 15

For a belief to count as knowledge, you must have good reason for the belief.

Question 16

According to philosophical skeptics, knowledge requires certainty.

Question 17

If we are justified in believing a proposition, the proposition is true.

Question 18

There is good reason to doubt a proposition if it conflicts with expert opinion.

Question 19

If there is a good reason to doubt a proposition, it cannot possibly be true.

Question 20

An expert is someone who has shown that his judgment in a particular field is reliable.

Question 21

A miracle is, by definition, nothing more than a surprising or unusual event.

Question 22

The memories of eyewitnesses are notoriously unreliable.

Question 23

Our memory of an event can be drastically changed if we later encounter new information about the event.

Question 24

Reluctance to change one's views in the face of contrary evidence can be found in all walks of life.

Question 25

A fact is a true statement.

Question 26

Propositional knowledge is a knowledge of facts.

Question 27

Faith is a reliable source of knowledge.

Question 28

All mystics have the same view of the nature of reality.

Question 29

A proposition is beyond a reasonable doubt if it provides the best explanation of something.