Exam I Review Sheet
PHI 350: Metaphysics and Epistemology
Prof. Meg Wallace
Fall 2011
Format: The exam will consist of two parts: short answer and long answer. There will be 6-8 short
answer questions of which you pick 4-5. Answers should be anywhere from one to five sentences.
There will be 4 long answer questions, of which you pick 2. Answers should be about 2 blue-book
pages, front and back. The exam is scheduled for Thursday, September 29 at our regular class time,
our regular class place. There will be a brief review in class on Tuesday, and on the discussion
forum, if you choose to use it.
Some Terms
Deductive Arguments
Valid/Invalid
Sound/Unsound
Inductive Arguments
Strong/Weak
Cogent/Not Cogent
Possible Worlds and Skeptical Scenarios
Moore's Response
Semnatic Externalism
Magical Theories of Reference
Epistemic Externalism
Coherentism
Foundationalism
Reliabilism
Metaepistemic Requirement
Relevant Alternatives
Conditions for Knowledge
Gettier Cases
Subjunctive Conditionals
Sensitivity/Safety
Closure/Denying Closure
Contextulaism
Fallibilism
Lewis' Account of Knowledge
Rule of Belief
Rule of Actuality
Rule of Resmblance
Rule of Reliability
Rule of Conservatism
Rule of Attention
Nozick (TBA)
Principles, Arguments, and Objections
Argument by Skeptical Hypothesis
The Moorean Response
Putnam's Argument from Semantic Externalism (to the conclusion: "I am a BIV" is false)
Warfield's Skeptical Argument
Warfield's Antiskeptical Argument
Warfield's Putnam's Antiskeptical Argument
Sosa's Radical Argument
Sosa’s Argument Against the Skeptic
Sosa’s “Best Case Scenario” 3 Conditions, and what they are supposed to show
Nozick's Conditions (3) and (4) for Knowledge
Lewis' Contextualism
Nozick “answer” to Skepticism