Test Review Sheets

Test 1: Philosophy and the Meaning of Life

Important Concepts: be able to characterize and give examples.

philosophy		sophist
ad ignorantiam		philosophic mind
practical mind		metaphysics
epistemology		axiology
æsthetics		ethics
synoptic		not-Self
enlargement of self		``arrest of life"
decoy of life		irrational knowledge
existentialism		undermine
the Absurd		eluding

Important Essays : be able to explain in depth

1. What is philosophy?
2. What is the Socratic Paradox and what is paradoxical about it?
3. What is Socrates' argument that death is a good? Why doesn't Socrates believe in hell?
4. According to Russell, what are the main goals of philosophy?
5. Characterize Tolstoy's use of faith and the characteristics he ascribes to faith.
6. According to Camus, how can one find the meaning of life? What is the point of the myth of Sisyphus?

Important Distinctions: Be able to list differences and give examples.

1. faith and reason
2. practical and philosophic mind
3. science and philosophy
4. philosophy and religion
5. epistemology, metaphysics, and axiology

Sample Test Online with Links to Answers:
http://philosophy.lander.edu/intro/life_test.html

Test 2: The Philosophy of Religion

Important Concepts: be able to characterize and give examples.

a priori		a posteriori
ontological		cosmological
existential import		BTWNGCBC
philosophy of religion		natural theology
efficient cause		Occam's Razor
Great Chain of Being		polar concepts
teleology		rational decision theory
prescriptive law		descriptive law
problem of evil		nonmoral evil

Important Essays: be able to explain in detail and give possible objections.

1. Anselm's Ontological Argument with objections
2. Aquinas' Argument From Motion (Change) with objections
3. Aquinas' Argument From (Efficient) Cause with objections
4. Aquinas' Argument From Necessity with objections
5. Aquinas' Argument From Gradation (Great Chain of Being) with objections
6. Aquinas' Argument From Governance (Teleological Argument) with objections
7. Paley's Watch Argument with objections
8. Pascal's Wager with objections
9. Dostoevsky's and Hick's Statements and Answers to the Problem of Evil

Important Distinctions: be able to list differences and give examples.

1. a priori and a posteriori statements
2. material, efficient, formal, and final causes
3. potentiality and actuality
4. prescriptive and descriptive law
5. moral evil and nonmoral evil

Sample Test Online with Links to Answers (subjects may vary):
http://philosophy.lander.edu/intro/ethics_test.html

Test 3: Ethics and Philosophical Ethics

Important Concepts: be able to characterize and give examples.

determinism (hard)		determinism (soft)
predeterminism		fatalism
predestination		indeterminism
chance		free will
utilitarianism		ethical relativism
ethical absolutism		hedonistic calculus
selfishness		self-interest
Ring of Gyges		other-regarding motives
altruism		existence
essence		existentialism
psychological egoism		ethical egoism
master morality		slave morality

Important Essays: be able to explicate the following questions.

1. What is the argument from moral progress (against ethical relativism)?
2. What is the linguistic refutation of psychological egoism? How does it refute the Myth of the Ring of Gyges.
3. Why can't ethical egoism be universalized?
4. How are we ``condemned to be free''?
5. What are the elements of a significant life according to James?

Important Distinctions: be able to list differences and give examples.

1. selfishness and self-interest
2. psychological relativism and ethical relativism
3. essence and existence
4. anguish, forlornness, and despair

Sample Test Online with Links to Answers (subjects may vary):
http://philosophy.lander.edu/intro/ethics_test.html