Deck 2: Creation and Reality

Question 1

In the creation story of the Boshongo people, Bumba completes creation.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

One of Bumba's sons creates the first plant.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

In the creation story from the Upanishads, there were originally two creator gods.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The creation story from the Upanishads claims that humans were created to worship the gods.

Question 5

Most scholars now believe that there are two creation stories found in Bereshith/Genesis.

Question 6

In the first creation story found in the Bible, male and female humans are created at the same time.

Question 7

In the Cherokee creation story, humans arrive on the scene after the animals and plants.

Question 8

The Cherokee creation story claims that animals originally lived in the sea.

Question 9

According to Hawking, in its initial state the earth was covered with ice.

Question 10

Hawking claims that space-time was finite but had no boundary.

Question 11

Darwin claims that humans evolved from apes.

Question 12

According to Darwin, belief in the theory of evolution is compatible with belief in a Creator.

Question 13

Diamond tries to explain the biological origins of human life.

Question 14

According to Diamond, New Guineans are probably more intelligent that Westerners.

Question 15

Plato's "Myth of the Cave" is excerpted from The Phaedo.

Question 16

According to Plato, there are two levels of reality.

Question 17

According to the Tao Te Ching, the sage gets things done by doing nothing.

Question 18

Like Plato's Form of the Good, the Tao can be understood through the process of reason.

Question 19

Wang Chung can be correctly classified as an idealist.

Question 20

According to Wang Chung, the spontaneous movement of nature is devoid of intention.

Question 21

Lucretius denies that things were created out of nothing by a divine being.

Question 22

Lucretius argues against Plato's claim that the universe is infinite in all directions.

Question 23

Leibniz denies that there is any physical interaction in the universe.

Question 24

According to Leibniz, only humans and God have perceptions.

Question 25

Bergson claims that there are three types of knowledge.

Question 26

According to Bergson, absolute knowledge allows us to intuitively grasp something from within.

Question 27

Nishida argues that science provides us with the most accurate description of reality.

Question 28

Nishida's main criticism of traditional philosophy is that it divorces reality and knowledge from the practical demands of life.

Question 29

Frye can be correctly classified as an empiricist.

Question 30

Frye argues that traditional conceptual schemes exclude women.

Question 31

In the creation story of the Boshongo people, the process of creation begins when

A) Bumba says "Let there be light."
B) Bumba gets sick and vomits up the sun.
C) Bumba does a whirling dance.
D) Bumba mates with the Earth Mother.

Question 32

According to the creation story of the Boshongo people, the kite was created by

A) one of the animals.
B) Bumba.
C) the first human.
D) one of Bumba's sons.

Question 33

In the creation story from the Upanishads, the self splits because

A) it discovers that it is alone.
B) God strikes it with a lightning bolt.
C) it ingests too much food.
D) it wishes to create humans.

Question 34

When the process of creation is complete, the story from the Upanishads says that

A) the self ceases to exist.
B) the self becomes God.
C) the self enters into everything that exists.
D) the self becomes fully human.

Question 35

In the first creation story in the Bible, we are told that humans are

A) formed from the dust of the ground.
B) created before the animals.
C) created in the image of God.
D) given immortal souls.

Question 36

In the second biblical creation story, the man and woman are ejected from the garden because

A) they ate fruit from a forbidden tree.
B) they killed and ate animals.
C) they refused to clothe themselves.
D) they danced in the moonlight.

Question 37

The Cherokee creation story says that the land was created by

A) the Great Spirit.
B) the great buzzard.
C) the first man and woman.
D) the water-beetle.

Question 38

In the Cherokee creation story, the first human male impregnates the first human female by

A) having sexual intercourse with her.
B) hitting her with a fish.
C) praying to the Great Spirit.
D) feeding her deer meat.

Question 39

In the selection in the book, Hawking discusses a conference on cosmology that he attended

A) at the Vatican.
B) at Oxford University.
C) at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory.
D) at the National Academy of Sciences.

Question 40

Hawking says that at the moment of the big bang itself, the universe is thought

A) to have been infinitely cold.
B) to have had zero size.
C) to have consisted solely of hydrogen atoms.
D) to have been created by God.

Question 41

Darwin made many of the observations that led him to formulate the theory of evolution while traveling aboard the H.M.S.

A) Beagle.
B) Barracuda.
C) Galapagos.
D) Ferrigut.

Question 42

According to Darwin, evolutionary modification is largely determined by

A) chance.
B) geographical distribution.
C) the will of the Creator.
D) natural selection.

Question 43

Diamond says that the topic he discusses in the book was suggested to him during the course of his conversation with a New Guinean named

A) Yama.
B) Ngambe.
C) Yali.
D) Baraka.

Question 44

According to Diamond, the differences in the historical development of diverse cultures is largely a result of

A) environmental factors.
B) genetic differences.
C) teleological causation.
D) intellectual capability.

Question 45

In Plato's "Myth of the Cave," the sun outside the cave symbolizes

A) God.
B) the Form of the Good.
C) the shadows of objects.
D) the immortality of the soul.

Question 46

The modern metaphor used in the book to explain the "Myth of the Cave" was

A) a movie theater.
B) a sailing ship.
C) a subterranean spring.
D) an underground city.

Question 47

Which of the following statements is not true of the Tao?

A) It is the ultimate source of all life.
B) It is referred to as a formless form.
C) It was created by God.
D) It is like a bottomless bowl.

Question 48

The Taoist term that is often translated as "actionless activity" is

A) te.
B) we wei.
C) yang.
D) lao-tzu.

Question 49

Wang Chung claims that everything in the universe is produced by

A) the design of Heaven.
B) a combination of seeds or atoms.
C) intentional activity.
D) the spontaneous mixture of fluids.

Question 50

In order to illustrate his metaphysical theory, Wang Chung uses the example of

A) the way husband and wife unite to produce a child.
B) the way birds migrate during the change of seasons.
C) the way a cherry tree blossoms in spring.
D) the way a river flows to the sea.

Question 51

According to Lucretius, everything in the universe is composed of

A) spiritual atoms.
B) the fluids of heaven and earth.
C) beams of light.
D) tiny indivisible seeds.

Question 52

Lucretius claims that the gods

A) created the universe.
B) determine our ultimate destiny.
C) do not exist.
D) should be feared.

Question 53

Leibniz claims that the basic building blocks of the universe are

A) materialistic seeds.
B) Monads.
C) Theodes.
D) Plenums.

Question 54

Which of the following claims about Monads is not true?

A) They were created by God.
B) They have perceptions.
C) They do not interact with one another.
D) They are not simple substances.

Question 55

Bergson claims that modern science provides us with

A) absolute knowledge.
B) relative knowledge.
C) metaphysical knowledge.
D) mere opinion.

Question 56

In order to express his intuitive grasp of his own existence, Bergson uses the metaphor of

A) a constantly changing kaleidoscope.
B) a river flowing to the ocean.
C) an infinitely small piece of elastic.
D) a tiny flame in the heart.

Question 57

The example that Nishida uses to illustrate the nature of pure experience is that of

A) a listener enraptured by music.
B) a scientist working in his or her laboratory.
C) a child playing with a doll.
D) an artist creating a painting.

Question 58

According to Nishida, which of the following statements does not describe pure experience?

A) In pure experience, thinking, feeling, and willing are still undivided.
B) In pure experience, there is a single activity.
C) In pure experience, subject is distinguished from object.
D) Pure experience gives us a fuller grasp of reality than does science.

Question 59

The philosopher that Frye quotes in her essay in the text is

A) Plato.
B) Nietzsche.
C) Ryle.
D) Austin.

Question 60

The philosopher that Frye quotes in her essay in the text is

A) Plato.
B) Nietzsche.
C) Ryle.
D) Austin.

Question 61

Describe the process of creation that takes place in the creation story of the Boshongo people. How does this account of creation compare with/differ from modern scientific accounts of the origin of the universe?

Question 62

Explain the relationship of Bumba to humans, and of humans to nonhuman animals, in the Boshongo story of creation. In what ways, if any, are these views compatible with your own views on the relationship of a creator god to humans and of humans to nonhuman animals?

Question 63

Describe the process of creation that takes place in the creation story from the Upanishads. How does this story of creation compare with/differ from the creation story of the Boshongo people?

Question 64

What does the creation story from the Upanishads tell us about the origin and nature of humans? How does this compare with/differ from what the creation story of the Boshongo people tells us about the origin and nature of humans? Which of these stories come closer to your own views on this matter? Explain your answer.

Question 65

Carefully describe the account of creation that is presented in one of the Biblical stories. Then identify two main differences between the account of creation in the story that you described and the account of creation in the other Biblical story.

Question 66

Carefully explain why the man and the woman are ejected from the garden in the second creation story from the Bible. Then describe the punishments that God gives to each of the participants. Do you think these punishments are fair? Why or why not?

Question 67

How, according to the Cherokee creation story, did the land and everything on it come into being? Identify three main differences between the Cherokee account of creation and the Biblical creation stories.

Question 68

How, according to the Cherokee creation story, did disease and medicine come into being? How does this story compare with/differ from modern scientific accounts of the origin of disease and medicine?

Question 69

Carefully explain the basic events that take place between the big bang singularity and the beginning of life on earth. Do you find this account of creation plausible? Why or why not?

Question 70

Which of the creation stories that you have read is most similar to the big bang theory described by Hawking? Which of the creation stories is least similar to this theory? Explain your answers.

Question 71

Carefully describe the essential differences between Darwin's theory of evolution and the competing theory that he argues against. Then explain two of his reasons for rejecting the competing theory. Do you find his reasons convincing? Why or why not?

Question 72

Of the creation stories that you have read, which of them is most compatible with Darwin's theory of evolution? Which of them is least compatible? Defend your answers.

Question 73

Carefully explain the question that Diamond addresses in the selection from his book. What, according to Diamond, are some of the traditional answers to this question? How does Diamond's answer differ from these traditional answers?

Question 74

What, according to Diamond, are the three common objections that people make to even raising the question that he raises? What response does Diamond make to each of these objections?

Question 75

Carefully describe the events that take place in Plato's "Myth of the Cave." Why, according to Plato, do most people not escape from the cave?

Question 76

Describe the two levels of reality that Plato discusses. In what ways are Plato's views of reality similar to traditional Christian views of reality? Do you agree that there are two levels of reality? Why or why not?

Question 77

Explain as clearly as you can the nature of the Tao. Then compare and contrast this concept with Plato's Form of the Good.

Question 78

What, according to the Tao Te Ching, represents the ideal way of life? How does the Taoist conception of the ideal way of life compare with/differ from your own views about what constitutes the ideal way of life?

Question 79

Compare and contrast Wang Chung's views on the nature of reality with the views that are found in the Tao Te Ching. Which of these positions is closer to Plato's views on reality? Explain your answer.

Question 80

Carefully explain Wang Chung's reasoning for denying that things happen according to the design of Heaven. Do you find his reasoning convincing? Why or why not?