Chapter One: Philosophical Questions TRUE/FALSE 1. Both important decisions and trivial incidents can inspire philosophical questions.
A. True B. False
ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: p. 27 2. The point behind philosophical questions in general is to teach us how to arrive at answers that are so clear and convincing that we will cease our questioning.
A. True B. False
ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: p. 28 3. Rene Descartes’ philosophical method was based on a clear authority structure which one already knows is reliable.
A. True B. False
ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: p. 28, box 4. Some psychologists, such as B.F. Skinner, believed that there are no such things as “minds,” but that people do nothing more than “behave,” which is just moving their bodies and making sounds according to certain stimulations from the environment.
A. True B. False
ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: p. 29 5. If you pinch yourself and feel it, that’s sure proof that you are not dreaming, but are indeed awake.
A. True B. False
ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: p.30 6. The philosopher Socrates did not willingly go to his death, because he believed he had the right to life.
A. True B. False
ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: p. 31 7. The old quip, “There are no atheists in foxholes,” seems to mean that when faced with death, we all search for some ultimate source of support.
A. True B. False
ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: p. 33 8. Unlike his contemporary, Pelagius, Augustine thought it was more important to have faith than to do good works.
A. True B. False
ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: p. 34 9. Scientists tell us that we are right when we believe that ordinary material objects, like chairs, are solid objects.
A. True B. False
ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: p. 34 10. It is impossible that only one person should know the meaning of a word in English; a word has meaning in English, because English speakers agree basically on its meaning.
A. True