Deck 14: The Mind-Body Problem and What Is Knowledge an Analysis

Question 1

Both idealism and materialism are monisms.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

George Berkeley would be an example of a dualist.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Epiphenomenalism is a form of dualism.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Parallelism holds that there is a one-way causal relationship between the mind and the body.

Question 5

Panpsychism is the view that everything in nature has a mind or soul.

Question 6

Folk psychology is the latest scientific theory of brain researchers.

Question 7

Neutral monism is the view that there is one common substance that underlies both mind and matter.

Question 8

According to René Descartes, the pineal gland is where the mind and body interact.

Question 9

The principle of Occam's razor is used to defend dualism.

Question 10

The privacy of our mental states is a consideration in favor of dualism.

Question 11

Dualistic interactionism claims that

A) the brain is made up of two hemispheres that interact.
B) the soul and the mind interact.
C) the mind and body are different substances that causally interact.
D) two physical bodies can interact with each other, but not with the mind.

Question 12

Which of the following two philosophers are dualists?

A) Plato and Thomas Hobbes
B) Plato and John Locke
C) John Locke and Paul Churchland
D) John Locke and George Berkeley

Question 13

According to epiphenomenalism

A) the body affects the mind, but the mind does not affect the body
B) the mind affects the body, but the body does not affect the the mind
C) mind and body have a two-way causal relationship.
D) the mind and body do not affect one another at all.

Question 14

Metaphysical behaviorism is a form of

A) panpsychism.
B) materialism.
C) parallelism.
D) interactionism.

Question 15

Reductive materialism claims that

A) beliefs are types of public behavior.
B) the concept of belief is a part of a faulty folk psychology.
C) beliefs are identical to brain states.
D) there are no brain states that can be correlated with mental states.

Question 16

In Descartes's philosophy, the three kinds of substances are

A) liquids, gases, solids.
B) God, minds, matter.
C) God, humans, animals.
D) minds, souls, bodies.

Question 17

For Descartes, the mind and the body have the following relationship:

A) they are separate substances that do not interact.
B) they are separate substances that do interact.
C) they are two aspects of the same substance.
D) the mind is simply a by-product of the body's states.

Question 18

Which one of the following was NOT a problem for interactive dualism discussed in the text?

A) the location of the mind-body interaction
B) the problem of the principle of the conservation of energy
C) the fact that mental states seem private and incorrigible
D) the problem raised by Occam

Question 19

According to the text, which of the following is a way that the dualist could respond to the problem of the conservation of energy?

A) The principle only applies to closed systems, but the universe may be an open system.
B) The principle is false.
C) Some physical events do not require energy.
D) The mind creates energy.

Question 20

The principle of Occam's razor states that

A) energy is neither created nor destroyed.
B) philosophical distinctions should be as sharp as possible.
C) we can cut a path between dualism and materialism.
D) we should prefer explanations that are as simple as possible.

Question 21

What are some considerations that make dualism so appealing to common sense?

Question 22

Discuss the problem the conservation of energy poses for interactive dualism. What are some ways the dualist can respond to this objection?

Question 23

What is Occam's razor? How do materialists use this principle against dualism?

Question 24

Plato was the first philosopher to offer the tripartite analysis of knowledge.

Question 25

Edmund Gettier is famous for his counterexamples to the tripartite definition of knowledge.

Question 26

According to the tripartite analysis, the three elements constituting knowledge are truth, belief, and a reliable belief-forming mechanism.

Question 27

The tripartite analysis assumes internalism.

Question 28

The defeasibility criterion attempts to add a fourth condition for knowledge to the traditional three conditions.

Question 29

The no false-belief condition adds to the tripartite analysis the condition that a belief must be true to be knowledge.

Question 30

Externalism attempts to solve the Gettier problem by adding a fourth condition to the tripartite analysis.

Question 31

Externalism maintains that to have knowledge, one must be able to provide a justification for his or her beliefs.

Question 32

Reliabilism is a form of externalism.

Question 33

The text concludes that reliablism and internalism complement each other, but neither is complete in itself.

Question 34

The tripartite analysis attempts to answer which of the following questions?

A) What is truth?
B) What is the definition of knowledge?
C) Is all knowledge derived from experience?
D) all of the above

Question 35

Edmund Gettier argued that

A) we can never have knowledge.
B) the three elements of the tripartite analysis can be reduced to two conditions.
C) the tripartite analysis does not provide sufficient conditions for knowledge.
D) knowledge does not have to be justified to be genuine.

Question 36

Which of the following are examples of a quartet solution to the Gettier problem?

A) the no false-belief condition
B) the conclusive reasons condition
C) the defeasibility condition
D) all of the above

Question 37

Gilbert Harman's attempt to save the essence of the causal theory is called the

A) no false belief condition.
B) conclusive reasons condition.
C) inference to the best explanation theory.
D) internal relations theory.

Question 38

Internalism and externalism differ over whether or not

A) truth is a necessary condition for knowledge.
B) we must be able to justify a belief for it to be knowledge.
C) it is possible to have knowledge at all.
D) knowledge requires internal or external justification.

Question 39

The defeasibility condition is concerned with

A) what conditions would defeat one's justification of a belief.
B) the causal conditions which produced a belief.
C) eliminating the justification condition.
D) the necessary conditions for a belief to be true.

Question 40

Reliabilists get around the Gettier counterexamples by dismissing which of the following traditional conditions for knowledge?

A) S believes that p.
B) p is true.
C) S's belief that p is justified.
D) all of the above

Question 41

According to the text, a positive advantage of externalism is

A) it defeats skepticism.
B) it dissolves the problem of induction.
C) it makes sense of perceptual knowledge.
D) all of the above

Question 42

In their account of knowledge, externalists differ from the traditional account of knowledge in their emphasis on

A) the process by which our beliefs are formed.
B) the reasons we have for our beliefs.
C) the coherence among our beliefs.
D) all of the above

Question 43

The text finds externalism weak because

A) externalism is vague on what counts as a reliable belief-forming mechanism.
B) the appropriate causation of a belief seems necessary but not sufficient for justification.
C) we can imagine counterexamples where the reliability requirement is met, but we would hesitate to accept it as an example of knowledge.
D) all of the above

Question 44

What is the tripartite analysis of knowledge? Explain why philsophers have traditionally considered each element to be a necessary condition for knowledge.

Question 45

What is the Gettier problem? Give an example of a Gettier counterexample. (You may use one from the book or make up your own.) Explain why this counter example raises problemsfor the standard analysis of knowledge.

Question 46

Discuss one of the several "quartet"solutions to the Gettier problem. In what ways does it provide a reply to some of the Gettier counterexamples? What are some of the problems with this solution?

Question 47

Discuss the differences between internalism and externalism. Choose one or the other position and explain why you think it is more plausible than the other.