PHIL 251 Varner 2018c Final exam Page 1 Your first name: Your last name: K_E_Y Part one (multiple choice, worth 20% of course grade): Indicate the best answer to each question on your Scantron by filling in one and only one bubble. Note that where the best answer is of the form Both (A) and (C) but not (B) or All of the above, no partial credit will be given for any other answers. Note also that if a question looks familiar from a previous exam or a quiz, it may nevertheless have been changed in ways that change which answer is correct. 1. How was philosophy or being philosophical defined for purposes of this course? (A) Philosophy is, or at least ought to be, limited to the analysis and clarification of language. (B) Philosophy refers to all systematic, rational knowledge (as in doctor of philosophy i.e. Ph.D. ). (C) Being philosophical means making profound-sounding statements. (D) Being philosophical means thinking rationally about an event rather than responding emotionally to it. (E) Being philosophical means thinking systematically about certain non-empirical questions while emphasizing carefully formulated arguments and analysis of key terms. CORRECT 2. The Principle of Sufficient Reason holds that (A) CORRECT There has to be an explanation for any fact about the world, however specific or general that fact might be, and there has to be an explanation for the existence of every existing thing. (B) If a possible being exists only in the understanding and might have existed in reality, then it might have been greater than it is. (C) There cannot be a power greater than God s, because then the creator of the world would Himself have been created by a greater power. (D) The appearance of design in the world is sufficient to justify our belief that it was created by an intelligent designer. 3. Anselm argued that God is which kind of being? (A) contingent (B) impossible (C) CORRECT necessary 4. Which of the following is/are a posteriori arguments? (A) The teleological argument. (B) The ontological argument. (C) The cosmological argument. (E) CORRECT Both (A) and (C) but not (B). 5. Which of the following is/are a priori arguments? (A) The teleological argument. (B) CORRECT The ontological argument. (C) The cosmological argument. 6. What does it mean to say that God is omniscient? (A) CORRECT God is all knowing. (B) God is all good. (C) God is all powerful. (D) God is eternal. (E) God is present everywhere. 7. What does it mean to say that God is omnipotent? (A) God is all knowing. (B) God is all good. (C) CORRECT God is all powerful. (D) God is eternal. (E) God is present everywhere. 8. Which argument purports to prove the existence of the being than which none greater can be conceived? (A) CORRECT The ontological argument (B) The cosmological argument (C) The teleological argument (D) The argument from evil 9. Self-existent being =df a being whose existence is accounted for by... (A) CORRECT... its own nature. (B)... the laws of logic. (C)... God s creative force. (D)... the causal activity of other things.
PHIL 251 Varner 2018c Final exam Page 2 10. Which argument focuses on the appearance of design in the world? (A) The ontological argument (B) The cosmological argument (C) CORRECT The teleological argument (D) The argument from evil 11. Which of the following best describes the difference between inductive and deductive arguments, as logicians understand the distinction? THIS ONE WAS THROWN OUT, ALL ANSWERS COUNTED AS CORRECT (A) Inductive arguments move from the general to the specific, whereas deductive arguments move from the specific to the general. (B) In a good inductive argument, if the premises are all true then the conclusion must be true, whereas in a good deductive argument, the premises being true merely makes it probable that the conclusion is also true. (C) Inductive arguments move from the specific to the general, whereas deductive arguments move from the general to the specific. (D) CORRECT In a good deductive argument, if the premises are all true then the conclusion must be true, whereas in a good inductive argument, the premises being true merely makes it probable that the conclusion is also true. 12. Which is the argument to the right? 1. Either Trump is a Democrat or Clinton is a Republican. (A) Sound but not valid. 2. It s false that Trump is a Democrat. (B) CORRECT Valid but not sound. C. So Clinton is a Republican. (C) Both valid and sound. (D) Neither valid nor sound. 13. Which of the following substitution of the words dogs, mammals, and humans in the following argument form would prove it invalid? 1. All As are Bs. 2. Some Bs are Cs. C. So some As are Cs. (A) A = dogs, B = mammals, C = humans (B) A = mammals, B = dogs, C = humans (C) A = humans, B = mammals, C = dogs (D) Each of the above. (E) CORRECT Both (A) and (C) but not (B). 14. Rowe says that most of the philosophers who have considered the ontological argument have rejected it for what reason? (A) They agree with Kant that existence cannot be a great-making property. (B) They think that greatness cannot be defined in a way that makes it an additive concept. (C) They argue that Anselm s ontological argument is invalid because an argument with the same form can have true premises and a false conclusion. (D) CORRECT They hold that from logical analysis of a concept alone you can never prove that something fitting that concept exists in reality. (E) They point out that the thing than which none greater can be conceived is actually a steaming, greasy plate of enchiladas. 15. Which of the following does Mackie categorize as an adequate solution to the problem of evil? (A) CORRECT Saying that there are limits to what an omnipotent being can do. (B) Claiming that evil is causally necessary as a means to producing good in the world. (C) Holding that evil is necessary as a logical counterpart to good. 16. According to Mackie, those who propose to solve the problem of evil by holding that Evil is necessary as a counterpart to good implicitly deny which characteristic of God? (A) CORRECT Omnipotence (B) Omniscience (C) Omnibenevolence (D) Creator of the world 17. Mackie argued that people who defend the human free will solution to the problem of evil implicitly confuse two senses of free will. In one of these senses, an action is free if and only if it is caused by one s character and decisions. What is the other sense? (A) An action is free if and only if the agent is not compelled or forced to do it. (B) CORRECT An action is free if and only if it is random and thus not predictable. (C) An action is free if and only if God causes it. (D) An action is free if and only if it is consistent with a universal human nature.
PHIL 251 Varner 2018c Final exam Page 3 18. Which of the following does Mackie categorize as a fallacious solution to the problem of evil? (A) Holding that God is not wholly good. (B) CORRECT Holding that evil is due to human free will. (C) Holding that there are limits on what an omnipotent being can do. 19. Which of the following would be an example of what Mackie calls good(1)? THIS ONE WAS THROWN OUT, ALL ANSWERS COUNTED AS CORRECT (A) pleasure (B) wishing others well (C) happiness (E) CORRECT Both (A) and (C), but not (B). 20. What was said to be, from a contemporary perspective, the main objection to Paley s version of the teleological argument? THIS ONE WAS THROWN OUT, ALL ANSWERS COUNTED AS CORRECT (A) His argument is an argument by analogy, and arguments by analogy are not deductive arguments. (B) Paley s claim about evidence of design is based on observation and therefore cannot have the certainty of an a priori argument. (C) All artifacts are all, by definition, the product of human design, but a living thing is not, by definition, the product of design. (D) CORRECT A crucial disanalogy between watches and living organisms is that we have a good theory of how the appearance of design can arise in the latter, but not the former. 21. The paradox of omnipotence states that: (A) It is impossible for a temporal being to be both omnipotent and omniscient. (B) It is impossible for a temporal being to think and not exist at the same time. (C) It is impossible for a temporal being to have both unlimited power to act and the ability to stop evil from occurring. (D) CORRECT It is impossible for a temporal being to have both unlimited power to act and unlimited power to decide what powers beings have. 22. Which of the following is a premise of the ontological argument as presented in Rowe s essay? (A) If something exists only in the understanding and might have existed in reality then it might have been greater than it is. (B) Not every being can be a dependent being. (C) God exists in the understanding. (E) CORRECT Both (A) and (C), but not (B). 23. What does Rowe claim is wrong with Gaunilo s criticism of Anselm s argument? (A) Gaunilo did not understand the distinction between soundness and validity the way modern logicians do, and so he failed to be clear that he was trying to formulate an argument with the same form as Anselm's but which had true premises and a false conclusion. (B) CORRECT In order for Gaunilo s criticism to work, we have to assume that Gaunilo s island might have existed in reality, that it is a possible being, but Rowe doubts that is true. (C) When Anselm and Gaunilo were arguing about all of this, they did not have the findings of modern science to draw on, and so they could not have realized that science now provides empirical evidence for what philosophers could then only speculate about. 24. Rowe used an analogy to integers and angles to explain the objection that... (A)... existence is not a predicate. (B) CORRECT... God is not a possible being. (C)... Anselm s argument is invalid in form. (D)... from the logical analysis of a concept you can t prove that a thing exists. 25. Kant s existence is not a predicate objection questions which premise of Anselm's ontological argument? (A) God exists in the understanding. (B) God might have existed in reality. (C) CORRECT If something exists only in the understanding and might have existed in reality, then it might have been greater than it is. 26. According to proponents of the cosmological argument, which clause of the PSR (Principle of Sufficient Reason) would not be satisfied if there were an infinite chain of dependent beings into the past? THIS ONE WAS THROWN OUT, ALL ANSWERS COUNTED AS CORRECT (A) There must be an explanation of the existence of any being. (B) CORRECT There must be an explanation of any positive fact.
PHIL 251 Varner 2018c Final exam Page 4 27. Which of the following is not an objection to the cosmological argument that Rowe discusses? (A) It makes the mistake of inferring that because each member of a series must have a cause, the series itself must have a cause. (B) It makes the mistake of failing to realize that for there to be an explanation of a collection of things is nothing more than for there to be an explanation of each of the things making up the collection. (C) It makes the mistake of treating a collection of or series of dependent beings as thought it were itself a dependent being, and, therefore, requires an explanation of its existence. (D) CORRECT It makes the mistake of assuming that God is subject to the laws of nature, because it treats God as if God were a member of a series of dependent beings. 28. While discussing Dennett s story Where Am I? we noted that philosophers have distinguished two different criteria for when personal identity is preserved across time. What did these two different criteria focus on? (A) Continuity of behavior across time, and continuity of the soul across time. (B) Continuity of memories, desires, and so on across time, and continuity of behavior across time. (C) CORRECT Continuity of the body across time, and continuity of memories, desires and so on across time. (D) Continuity of the soul across time, and continuity of the body across time. 29. Which of the following authors believes that a sufficiently sophisticated computer would actually be conscious? (A) CORRECT William Lycan (B) John Searle (C) Both of the above. (D) Neither of them. 30. Which view holds that mental states are causally inert? (A) Soft determinism (B) Hard determinism (C) Libertarianism (D) Epiphenominalism CORRECT 31. For which view was explaining interaction between minds and bodies said to be a problem? (A) functionalism (B) the identity theory (C) CORRECT substance dualism (D) eliminative materialism 32. Which of the following does a dualist hold? (A) That minds and bodies are fundamentally different types of things. CORRECT (B) The view that having a mind (being conscious) is having a brain (or at least some kind of nervous system) function a certain way, and to be in a given type of mental state is to be in a given type of brain state. (C) The view that having a mind (being conscious) is like running a kind of software that can be run on different physical systems, such as a brain or a sophisticated kind of computer, and to be in a given type of mental state is to have a physical system but not necessarily a brain functioning in a certain way. (E) Both (A) and (C), but not (B). 33. Which of the following is a physicalist view? (A) The identity theory (B) Functionalism (C) Substance dualism (D) Both (A) and (B) but not (C). CORRECT (E) Both (A) and (C), but not (B). 34. Which version of artificial intelligence research would a functionalist embrace? (A) strong A.I. CORRECT (B) weak A.I. 35. Which version of artificial intelligence research would Searle embrace? (A) strong A.I. (B) weak A.I. CORRECT 36. Which view on freedom of will did Lycan embrace? (A) That an action is free if and only if it is random. (B) That an action is free only if it is uncaused. (C) That an action is free if it is caused in the right way. CORRECT
PHIL 251 Varner 2018c Final exam Page 5 37. In Searle s Chinese room thought experiment, which of the following consciously understands Chinese (according to Searle)? (A) Searle himself, as he follows the rules in the book. (B) The book of instructions. (C) CORRECT The Chinese person outside the room exchanging characters with Searle in the room. (D) The system consisting of Searle, the instruction book, and the room. 38. What physicalist definition of pain does Gertler introduce in the first section of her essay? (A) To be in pain means you behave that way. (B) To be in pain means that your soul is pained. (C) To be in pain means that your C-fibers are stimulated. CORRECT (D) To be in pain means to pass the Turing test with regard to pain behavior. 39. Which type of questions does Gertler claim can only be answered via thought experiments? (A) Questions about what caused the Big Bang. (B) Questions about consciousness in other people and animals. (C) Questions about the afterlife and about what state we existed in before birth. (D) Questions about what is possible despite the fact that it never actually happens. CORRECT 40. Which among the following logical requirements is/are recognized by most philosophers as a logical requirement on all moral judgments? (A) Over-ridingness (B) Universalizability (C) Tactical indifference (D) CORRECT Both (A) and (B), but not (C). 41. Which of the following authors appealed to the logic of moral discourse to justify their theory? (A) Immanuel Kant (B) John Stuart Mill (C) R.M. Hare (E) Both (A) and (C), but not (B). CORRECT 42. Which view defines happiness in terms of pleasure and the absence of pain? (A) Virtue ethics (B) Kantian ethics (C) Preference utilitarianism (D) CORRECT Hedonistic utilitarianism 43. Which of the following did Varner say in class? (A) Mill explicitly endorses a hedonistic conception of happiness, but his discussion of the competent judge test suggests that he implicitly endorses a preference conception of happiness. CORRECT (B) Mill explicitly endorses a preference conception of happiness, but his discussion of the competent judge test suggests that he implicitly endorses a hedonistic conception of happiness. 44. What does Mill say about martyrs? (A) Martyrs are delusional, because nothing is worth sacrificing one s life for. (B) Martyrdom is not valuable in itself; it is good only if it increases the happiness of others. CORRECT (C) Martyrdom doesn t make one lose happiness, for a martyr spends eternity in heaven. Note: A martyr is a person who undergoes death or great suffering through devotion to some object. 45. Which method of justification in ethics did Varner say that Mill uses? (A) Appealing to God s will (B) Claiming self-evidence (intuitionism) (C) Appealing to the logic of moral discourse (D) CORRECT The method of reflective equilibrium 46. Which of the following best expresses rule utilitarian reasoning in ethics? (A) One ought in every case to do whatever would maximize the aggregate good. (B) One ought to follow whatever rules God ordains. (C) One ought to act consistently with whatever rules the people of one s society generally believe in. (D) One ought to act only on rules which everyone could achieve their goals by following in a world where everyone pursued those goals by following those rules. (E) CORRECT One ought to act consistently with whatever rules one would choose to have people follow in order to maximize aggregate happiness over time.
PHIL 251 Varner 2018c Final exam Page 6 47. What three elements does a fully stated Kantian maxim include? (A) a will, a character trait, and a virtue (B) a time, a place, and a strategy (C) an action, a rule, and a list of excuses (D) a strategy, a policy, and will (E) CORRECT a goal, an action, and a description of circumstances 48. How was Hare s two-level utilitarianism said to have a place for moral virtues as traditionally conceived? (A) It emphasizes the virtue of caring about what happens to others. (B) It is based on the golden rule of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. (C) CORRECT When one internalizes an ILS rule one acquires a character trait that helps one do the right thing. 49. Which of the following was said to be a category of ILS rules? THIS ONE WAS THROWN OUT, ALL ANSWERS COUNTED AS CORRECT (A) The laws of a society (B) The common morality of a society (C) The code of ethics of a profession CORRECT (E) Both (A) and (C), but not (B). 50. On Hare s view, to sincerely assent to an ought claim is to prefer that the thing in question be done, even if (A) CORRECT one had to occupy, successively, the positions of each and every one of the persons involved. (B) one had to occupy, at all times, the position of the one most adversely affected by the thing in question. (C) one had to occupy, at all times, the position of the one most benefited by the thing in question. (D) one had to assume full and sole responsibility for the thing in question. 51. Which of the following best expresses the logic of rights claims as described in class? (A) Right actions and institutions maximize aggregate happiness. (B) CORRECT If A has a right to X, then it would be wrong to deprive A of X on utilitarian grounds. (C) So act that the maxim of your action can be willed, without contradiction, to be a universal law of nature 52. According to Feinberg, what is the basis of human dignity? (A) Virtue (B) Creativity (C) The right to vote (D) Intellectual activity (E) Claiming one s rights CORRECT 53. How has a moral virtue traditionally been defined? (A) As a natural-born ability to do the right thing. (B) As a type of collective instinct that results from evolution. (C) As a balance of work life, private life, and religious life. (D) As a character trait acquired through practice. CORRECT 54. What condition of adequacy does Hursthouse describe as being behind the major objection to virtue theory? (A) Adequate moral theories must be consistent with the principle of universalizability. (B) An adequate moral theory is one that passes the test of reflective equilibrum. (C) Adequate moral theories cannot focus on character traits rather than on norms. (D) An adequate moral theory must be easily applied by a clever adolescent. CORRECT 55. Which argument employs the principle of sufficient reason? (A) Kant s argument to the categorical imperative (B) The cosmological argument for God s existence CORRECT (C) Searle s argument against functionalism in the philosophy of mind 56. Which of the following terms refers to the logical form of an argument, regardless of the actual truth or falsity of its premises? (A) Valid argument CORRECT (B) Sound argument Survey only questions: 57. What minimal clearance are motorists required to give bicyclists when passing them on public roads? (A) 1 foot 0% (B) 3 feet 52% This is correct (although I wish it were 6 feet!) (C) 6 feet 26% (D) I don t know. 19% (E) I d rather not say. 4%
PHIL 251 Varner 2018c Final exam Page 7 58. True or false: Texas state law requires bicycles to be operated on sidewalks rather than roadways wherever a sidewalk is available? (A) True 15% (B) False 70% and it is false! (C) I don t know. 11% (D) I d rather not say. 4% 59. Which part of the course did you find most interesting? (A) Part one, philosophy of mind 52% (B) Part two, ethical theory 4% (C) Part three, arguments for/against the existence of God 37% (D) I had no favorite among them. 4% (E) I d rather not say. 4% 60. Which type of argument do you find most convincing? (A) The ontological argument 0% (B) The cosmological argument 11% (C) The teleological argument 11% (D) The argument from evil 48% (E) I d rather not say or I have no opinion. 30% 61. Which do you think that Varner probably is? (A) Christian, Jewish or Muslim 15% (B) Buddhist or some other eastern religion 0% (C) An atheist or agnostic 41% (D) I can t tell. 44% (E) I d rather not say. 0% Part two (essay, worth 15% of course grade): Write an essay on one of the topics below in the space provided after the description. Indicate which topic you are addressing by placing an in the box next to it. 1. Topic: the ontological argument. A. Explain the argument as Rowe reconstructs it in his essay. B. Explain two of the objections to the argument that Rowe discusses. Make one of them an objection that Rowe discusses in his essay and imagines the proponent of the argument having a response to. Make the other one Rowe s own objection from the end of the essay. C. Give your own evaluation of the ontological argument as formulated by Rowe. Do you think that it succeeds in proving God s existence? Why or why not? 2. Topic: Mackie on the logical problem of evil. A. Explain how, according to Mackie, the problem arises for the theist and what would count as an adequate solution according to Mackie. B. Explain two of the proposed solutions to the problem that Mackie considers fallacious. Make one of them the Evil is due to human freewill solution that Mackie discusses at the end. What does Mackie think of these solutions? C. Critically evaluate both the proposed solutions and Mackie s replies. Do you agree with what Mackie says about the proposed solutions? Why or why not?