PHH 3700: American Philosophy Review for Midterm on 2/26/02

No further changes will be made to the review.  This is the complete document (posted on 2/23/02 at approximately 11:00 p.m.).  Your midterm examination will be derived from this set of review questions either in the form of actual questions appearing here, or in the form of alternate questions derived from these, or both.  In other words, if you can answer these, you can answer the test questions.

This review for your mid-term is in the general form of the test itself.  In other words, the review is written as though it were an actual test, and some of the questions appearing in the review WILL be actual test questions. The review contains MORE questions than the actual test will include and questions here, or questions derived from those below, may appear in any order in any section.  This is beginning to sound like a legal contract, so let's simply proceed.  Here is the review.  And, yes, some of the questions are detailed and perhaps a bit difficult.  But taking this in the spirit of American thought and action, of optimism in particular, and a confidence in progress and the future --- you can do it.

Section I.  Short answer essays.  Choose any three of the terms/concepts below and briefly describe/explain them in their appropriate contexts.
a.  The Sense of the Heart
b.  Deism
c.  Theodicy
d.  Hard Determinism
e.  "Trust Thyself"
f.   Method of tenacity
g.  "The true is only the expedient in our way of thinking...."
h.  Principles of Sufficient Reason, Universal Causation, and Perfection

Section II.  Answer 1 question from this section.
a.  How do the Principle of Sufficient Reason and the Principle of Perfection manifest themselves in Edwards' works?
b.  In what sense does Franklin's position regarding the existence and God and the nature of truth express both a deterministic view and a theodicy?
c.  Thomas Paine claimed that the true book of God is the book of nature.  How would Jonathan Edwards reply to Paine?  Would he completely disagree with Paine's view?  Justify your answer.

d.  How does William James define or describe “truth” and what is the significance of this claim for pragmatism as a technique for solving problems?

e.  What, in your considered view, are the ways in which the works of Edwards, Paine, Franklin, Stanton, Emerson, Peirce OR James express the American spirit of individualism, reform and optimism?  Use concepts/principles/theoretical background or foundation of one of these systems of thought to justify your claims.

Section III.  Answer 1 question from this section.
a.  In what sense is Thomas Paine's position a theodicy?  What is the most significant way in which his theodicy differs from that of Jonathan Edwards?  Justify your claims.
b.  In your considered view, which of the methods of "fixing belief" is used by Thomas Paine?  Justify your answer.
c.  There are elements of Stanton's claims in the "Introduction" to the Woman's Bible that are very similar to some of the claims made by Paine in The Age of Reason.  Focus your attention on any two of these similarities, as you see them, and show the way in which their attitudes are essentially the same, and in what sense they are different.
d.  What are the four different methods (Peirce) of "fixing belief"?  What are the advantages and disadvantages of each one?  Which, for Peirce, is the most valuable, and why is that the case?

Section IV.  Answer 1 question from this section.
a.  Stanton claimed that the Bible has been an instrument in the subordination and subjection of women.  Thomas Paine claimed that it has been a work of cruelty and immorality.  In your considered view, would Paine have been in agreement with Stanton's claims?  Why do you hold this position?  Defend your answer.
b.  Given Emerson's view of the perfectibility of mankind and of the possibility of progress, what is the significance of his exaltation of spirit over reason (keep in mind his claim that "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"), of action over contemplation, and creativity above theory?  How do these views relate to his position in "The American Scholar"?  Justify your answer.
c.  The pragmatists all generally hold that the purpose of inquiry is to move from a condition of discomfort found in doubt to a comfortable state of belief.  Yet the pragmatists also consider belief to be tentative.  In what ways is this notion manifested in the works of Peirce and James?  In a more specific way of asking this question, what is the purpose of inquiry?  Is the method of experimental science likely to satisfy, once and for all, the discomfort of doubt?  Is that a good thing, or a bad thing, according to Pragmatism, generally?

d.  How does William James define or describe “truth” and what is the significance of this claim for pragmatism as a technique for solving problems?

e.  In your considered view, which “method” for “fixing” beliefs among the four presented by Peirce is used by Emerson? Why do you hold this position? Are there specific concepts or comments presented or made by Emerson indicating that this is the method being used?

f.  William James points out that the attitude of pragmatism is "anti-intellectualism."  To what tradition is he referring as the "intellectualist tradition"?  In your considered and justified view, is pragmatism anti-intellectualist in a broader sense?
g.  Does the pragmatist engage in inquiry for the purpose of possessing the truth or The Truth?  What good is the possession of truth, for the pragmatist?  Does possessing The Truth have any value?  Justify your answer.