Question 1

By means of his method of doubt, Descartes shows that there is one thing we can know with certainty-namely, that we cannot know anything with certainty.

Accepted Answer

Descartes' method of doubt actually leads to the conclusion that there is one thing we can know with certainty: "I think, therefore I am" (Cogito, ergo sum), indicating the certainty of one's own existence as a thinking being.

Question 2

Descartes claims that there is at least one thing that he knows for certain, namely, that he thinks and that he exists.

Accepted Answer

Descartes' famous statement "Cogito, ergo sum" (I think, therefore I am) reflects his claim that the act of thinking demonstrates the existence of the self as something that cannot be doubted.

Question 3

Descartes method of doubt is intended to determine whether we can have any knowledge of the external world.

Accepted Answer

Descartes' method of doubt involves systematically doubting all beliefs to determine which ones are absolutely certain, aiming to establish a foundation for genuine knowledge, including knowledge of the external world.

Question 4

According to Descartes, an all-good God would not deceive us about the nature of reality.

Accepted Answer

Descartes argued that an all-good God, being perfect, would not deceive us, as deception is a sign of imperfection or malevolence, which cannot be attributed to a benevolent deity.

Question 5

According to Descartes, the criteria or principles for determining whether a claim is true are clarity and distinctness.

Accepted Answer

Descartes posited that for a belief to be considered true, it must be clear (easily understood) and distinct (precise and different from other concepts), as outlined in his method of doubt.

Question 6

An a priori statement is one whose truth/falsity can be known without having to appeal to experience.

Accepted Answer

An a priori statement is one that can be known to be true or false independently of empirical evidence, relying instead on logic or reasoning.

Question 7

An a posteriori statement is one whose truth/falsity is known without having to appeal to experience.

Accepted Answer

An a posteriori statement is one whose truth or falsity can only be known through empirical evidence or experience, not independently of experience.

Question 8

According to Locke's theory of perception, our ideas of primary qualities (shape, size, motion, etc.) correspond to the way things are in the world, but our ideas of secondary qualities (color, heat, texture, etc.) do not.

Accepted Answer

Locke argued that primary qualities exist in objects themselves and our perceptions of them accurately reflect reality. However, secondary qualities are not actually in objects but are the result of the interaction between our senses and the primary qualities of objects, thus they do not correspond directly to anything in the external world.

Question 9

By saying that, at birth, the mind is a tabula rasa, Locke means to highlight the empiricist view that the only source of knowledge is sense experience.

Accepted Answer

John Locke's concept of tabula rasa, which translates to "blank slate," emphasizes that individuals are born without built-in mental content, and all knowledge comes from experience or perception, aligning with the empiricist perspective that sense experience is the foundation of all knowledge.

Question 10

Primary qualities, for Locke, are ideas about things (e.g., being solid, taking up space, being in motion or at rest) which resemble the way those things really are.

Accepted Answer

John Locke distinguished between primary and secondary qualities, where primary qualities (such as solidity, extension, motion, and number) are characteristics that exist within the object itself and resemble the ideas we have of them, meaning they reflect the object's actual state.

Question 11

Berkeley uses his doctrine that "to be is to be perceived" to show that there are no material objects.

Accepted Answer

Berkeley argues that all that exists are perceptions and the minds that hold them, denying the existence of material objects independent of perception.

Question 12

In his critique of Locke, Berkeley argues that primary qualities cannot legitimately be distinguished from secondary qualities because primary qualities depend as much on perception as do secondary qualities.

Accepted Answer

Berkeley argues that both primary and secondary qualities are perceived through the senses and thus cannot be fundamentally distinguished; both depend on the perceiver's mind, challenging Locke's distinction where primary qualities were thought to exist independently of perception.

Question 13

"All bachelors are less than 8 feet tall" is a synthetic proposition because it is necessarily true.

Accepted Answer

The statement is analytic, not synthetic, because its truth is based on the meanings of the words involved, not on empirical evidence or the necessity of the physical world.

Question 14

"Mermaids have fins" is not an analytic proposition because mermaids do not exist.

Accepted Answer

An analytic proposition is one where the predicate concept is contained within the subject concept; the truth or falsity of the statement is determined by the meanings of the words alone, not by the existence of the subject in reality.

Question 15

Mathematical propositions (e.g., 7 + 5 = 12) are known a priori because their truth or falsity can be known without having to appeal to sense experience.

Accepted Answer

Mathematical propositions, such as "7 + 5 = 12," are considered a priori knowledge because their truth can be determined through reasoning alone, without the need for empirical verification or sensory experience.

Question 16

According to Kant, all synthetic a priori judgments are false.

Accepted Answer

Kant argued that synthetic a priori judgments are possible and indeed form the basis of much of human knowledge, particularly in mathematics and metaphysics, where we can know things about the world that are not derived from experience but are also not merely definitional.

Question 17

According to Kant, we know that every event has a cause because our minds use the concept of cause to structure our experience.

Accepted Answer

Kant argues that our understanding of the causal relationship between events is not derived from experience but rather is a precondition for the possibility of experiencing objects as connected in time. According to him, the concept of cause is a part of the synthetic a priori judgments that structure our experience, meaning we impose this concept on our perceptions to make sense of them.

Question 18

When I say I know something, I do not always have to believe what I claim to know.

Accepted Answer

Knowledge typically requires belief, meaning that if you claim to know something, you must also believe it to be true. Without belief, the claim to knowledge is generally considered to be unfounded or incorrect.

Question 19

Just as it is impossible to know something that you don't believe, you cannot believe something you don't know.

Accepted Answer

Belief does not require prior knowledge; people can believe in concepts, ideas, or entities without having direct knowledge of them, relying instead on faith, trust, or assumption.

Question 20

Even though only true propositions can be known, it is possible to believe a proposition that is false.

Accepted Answer

Belief does not require truth, so one can believe something that is false, whereas knowledge requires the proposition to be true.

Quiz 7: The Problem of Skepticism and Knowledge