Philosophy 1 Midterm study-guide
Part I Matching- Match the philosopher with his quote.
Thales, Heraclitus, Democritus (see week one handout).
Socrates- from the Apology, Anselm. Aquinas-; Pascal- why it is prudent to bet that God exists; Jameswhy skepticism is dangerous when it comes to religion; Descartes- med. 2; Wittgenstein- form the God
chapter
Part II. Short answer.
1. Socrates’ objection to the second definition of piety that Euthyphro attempts (week II handout).
2. Why James thinks “skeptical balance” is not appropriate when it comes to the religious hypothesis
(week IV handout- see also “the Will to Believe,” .)
3. Why Descartes believed we can be more certain about soul than body.
4. Causal interaction problem for dualism
Part III. Essay question. Either write an essay on (a) the teleological argument for the existence of God
and one objection to the argument; or (b) the problem of evil and one attempt to resolve it. Or (c)
Descartes skeptical arguments in Meditation I.
Part IV. Multiple choice
1. Know definitions of Libertarianism, hard determinism, and compatibilism.
2. Know to which argument for God’s existence the problem of evil poses an objection.
3. Know why Plato opposes prayer and sacrifice piety.
4. Blackburn on dualism’s attempt to solve the free will problem
5. Know how we defined “rational agent” in our discussion of free will
6. Know Heraclitus’ main point.
7. Identify a quote from Socrates (Apology)
8. Pascal on the existence of God