Deck 5: Can We Be Completely Certain of Anything?

Question 1

René Descartes (1596-1650) set out to find complete certainty in

A) The New Organon.
B) Meditations on First Philosophy.
C) Leviathan.
D) What Is Truth?

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Nicolaus Copernicus's On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres argued that

A) the sun is stationary at the center of the universe, while the planets (including the earth) move around it.
B) the earth is stationary at the center of the universe, while the sun moves around it.
C) the sun and the earth are both in eternal, relative orbits in a universe without a center.
D) the sun and the earth orbit equidistantly around a theoretical center of the universe.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) refuted the belief that celestial bodies are

A) in eternal and perfect motion.
B) divinities.
C) perfectly spherical.
D) alive.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In his Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes

A) decided to put aside all pre-existing doctrine and to only accept a claim once he had shown that it was certainly true.
B) compared himself to a builder constructing a new building from scratch.
C) wanted to find truths of which he could be certain.
D) All of the above

Question 5

Descartes's Meditations on First Philosophy argued that our senses have

A) deceived us in the past, though should always be trusted.
B) deceived us in the past, thus should not be trusted absolutely.
C) never deceived us in the past, though should still not be trusted.
D) never deceived us in the past, thus should be trusted absolutely.

Question 6

Which of the following claims regarding the validity of the senses did Descartes not make?

A) You can't be completely certain that you are not dreaming.
B) You can never be completely certain that you are not currently hallucinating.
C) While our senses have deceived us in the past, they have only done so in special conditions.
D) Since our sense have deceived us in the past, we can never be sure they won't deceive us in the future.

Question 7

An a priori argument is one that

A) does not rely on observation.
B) relies on observation.
C) relies on both observation and pure reason.
D) None of the above

Question 8

An a posteriori argument is one that

A) does not rely on observation.
B) relies on observation.
C) relies on both observation and pure reason.
D) None of the above

Question 9

Descartes posited an "evil demon" that could deceive him about everything except

A) what he was presently experiencing.
B) his memories of the past.
C) his mathematical calculations.
D) that he exists.

Question 10

Descartes claimed he was totally sure that he existed because

A) God, being all good, would not allow an evil demon to deceive him.
B) God, being all good, would not allow an evil demon to exist.
C) even if his life is a dream, he must nevertheless exist in order to have the dream.
D) the difference between living and dreaming is indubitable.

Question 11

Descartes claimed to know with complete certainty that he was a

A) divine creature.
B) thinking thing.
C) rational animal.
D) All of the above

Question 12

Descartes is often thought to have claimed that you can have certain knowledge about some conscious mental states. Which of the following was not included in these?

A) If it seems to you that you're in pain, then you are in pain.
B) If it seems to you that you're experiencing a color (e.g., red), then you are experiencing that color.
C) If it seems to you that 1 + 1 is 2, then it is true for you that 1 + 1 is 2.
D) All of the above

Question 13

Descartes claimed that when he reflected on certain claims, such as "I exist" or "I am a thinking thing," he felt compelled to believe because these perceptions were

A) obvious and immediate.
B) logically necessary.
C) empirically verifiable.
D) vivid and clear.

Question 14

Descartes proposed that whenever he vividly and clearly perceives that something is true,

A) it is true.
B) he is entitled to believe it.
C) it is true and he is entitled to believe it with complete certainty.
D) it is true, but he is not entitled to believe with complete certainty.

Question 15

Descartes claims to prove the existence of god based on his vivid and clear perception that

A) God exists.
B) God is supremely perfect.
C) God is supremely good.
D) God is the cause of his own being.

Question 16

Descartes thought he could show that the evil demon story is false based on the fact that

A) a perfect God would not allow an evil demon to deceive us like that.
B) a perfect God would not allow an evil demon to exist in the first place.
C) a perfect God provides Revelation, on which all truth depends.
D) All of the above

Question 17

Descartes argued that God, being perfectly good, would not allow people to be led into error by vivid and clear perception. Which of the following is not a premise in that argument?

A) Malice and weakness are not to be found in God.
B) I have a faculty of judgment that was given to me by God.
C) Since God doesn't want to deceive me, I am sure that he didn't give me a faculty of judgment that would lead me into error while I was using it correctly.
D) Deceiving someone is often necessary for his or her own good.

Question 18

The first premise of Descartes's ontological argument was that whatever Descartes vividly and clearly perceives to be true is true. From this premise, he inferred that God exists. But, at the same time, when defending the reliability of vivid and clear perception, Descartes appealed to his theism. Philosophers have called this argument the

A) Cartesian fallacy.
B) Cartesian circle.
C) naturalistic fallacy.
D) slippery slope.

Question 19

The Meditations on First Philosophy is often said to be the founding work of __________ philosophy.

A) ancient
B) medieval
C) modern
D) contemporary

Question 20

Richard Rorty thought that when confronted by a radical skeptic the correct response is to

A) explain to the radical skeptic that he is begging the question.
B) provide the radical skeptic with Descartes' argument from the Meditations on First Philosophy.
C) tell the radical skeptic to get lost.
D) go to the pub and have a neat whiskey.

Question 21

When philosophers talk about someone being a skeptic, they usually have in mind someone who

A) believes some things are simply unknowable.
B) doubts to an extreme level.
C) follows Descartes.
D) acknowledges the difficulty in acquiring knowledge.

Question 22

Discuss the method Descartes used to determine what he knew and did not know, including examples.

Question 23

Explain Descartes's ontological argument, including objections to it.

Question 24

Describe the role that Descartes's evil demon plays in his epistemology.

Question 25

Explain Saint Anselm's ontological argument, including objections to it.

Question 26

Set out Descartes's proof of God as well as the objection that argues it's circular.