Phil 020E 2005-2006
Introduction to Philosophy

Mid-year Exam (Sample)

Section 1: In 2-4 sentences, identify the author of each of the following passages and explain its significance

1.	“It is now some years since I detected how many were the false beliefs that I had from my earliest youth admitted as true, and how doubtful was everything I had since constructed on this basis; and from that time I was convinced that I must once for all seriously undertake to rid myself of all opinions which I had formerly accepted…”
2.	“A mite therefore must be supposed to see his own foot, and things equal or even less than it, as bodies of some considerable dimension, though at the same time they appear to you scarce discernible or at best as so many visible points?” 
3.	“When we have found a resemblance among several objects that often occur to us, we apply the same name to all of them, whatever differences we may observe in the degrees of their quantity and quality…”
4.	“What, for instance, does it mean to say a man feels a pain in his foot?  Absolutely nothing, except that his foot hurts.  But this hurting, what sort of thing is it?  It is not a thing at all, not a thing felt, and certainly not a mental thing that is felt in his foot.”
5.	“We see that things which lack knowledge, such as natural bodies, act for an end, and this is evident from their acting always, or nearly always, in the same way, so as to obtain the best result.”

Section 2: In a short paragraph, answer each of the following questions fully

1.	What does David Hume conclude about the origin of our belief in causation?  Why does he say this?    
2.	Why is Descartes certain that he is a “thinking substance?”
3.	Explain Paley’s argument for God’s existence.
4.	How is it, according to James, that beliefs taken today as firm truths can be tomorrow deemed falsehoods?
5.	Draw Plato's twice-divided line; label its parts; provide some examples of the objects in each category.

Section 3: Write a short essay on one of the following questions

1.	Explain the three theories of truth and highlight at least one problem for each view?
2.	Is Gaunilo successful in showing that Anselm’s argument is flawed?
3.	Descartes argued that our senses deceive us, and Locke argued that all of our knowledge comes from our senses.  Who do you think is right?  Defend your position, making reference to the arguments of both thinkers.