Review for Midterm Exam:
Your exam on 3/2 will have the following general format.
T/F questions
MC questions
Short answer or short answer essays
1 longer essay (choose 1 out of 3)
This is not a set of review questions, although there are a few questions included. There are questions at the ends of each chapter in Vol. I of Philosophy in America. What this is, instead, is a general outline of some major concepts and terms with which you ought to be familiar, and that you should be able to apply, identify, and discuss in their appropriate contexts.
Edwards
The Teleological Argument/Design Argument
The relationship of “The Spider Letter” to the tel. Argument
The relationship of the views of Locke and Berkeley to Edwards with respect to primary/secondary qualities, idealism, and observational claims.
The sense of the heart and its relationship to empiricism
Edwards’ conception of determinism and moral responsibility
The Principle of Universal Causation
Logical Determinism
The Arminian argument for free will
Edwards’ critique of the Arminian argument and problems with his critique.
Edwards’ rejection of human autonomy, independence, and dignity
The notion of the strongest motive, definition of the will
Philosophical necessity vs. that which is “necessary to us”
Contingency, for Edwards
Why it makes no sense to speak of free will
What liberty is
The Principle of Sufficient Reason
The relationship of Edwards’ claims regarding will to the Cosmological Argument for God’s existence
The equality of human beings, according to Edwards, and what it implies. Why are those with a sense of the heart problematic with respect to Edwards’ position?
Franklin
How to justify the claim that at least some of Franklin’s work “counts” as philosophical – references to Plato, Aristotle, Marx, and Epitetus for explanation
Franklin’s fallibilism – note that this relates to other thinkers whose work we are considering. Be able to explain the way in which some are, and some are not, fallibilists.
Franklin’s ethics as a form of virtue ethics – much like Aristotle and Epictetus
Franklin’s doubts about religion, his defense of Christianity, and concept of usefulness
The importance of human happiness for Franklin.
Paine
Deism
His argument that churches enslave humanity
The relationship between political revolution and religious revolution
The absurdity of the crucifixion, for Paine
The problem of pecuniary justice
Paine’s rejection of the claim that “human reason” is not something to be celebrated, or used
Why science is the true theology, what the true theology teaches us, and its relationship to moral truth
What are the problems with mystery, miracle, and prophecy?
Emerson
Why Emerson’s position cannot be thought of as “reasoned” argumentation, but is persuasion
Basic relationship of Kant’s epistemology & metaphysics to Emerson’s position
Major barriers in the way of self-reliance
Distinction between Reason and Understanding
Emerson’s view of human equality – remarkable, extraordinary
Emerson’s view as reform, progress
Explanation of the rejection of European traditions
Failures of Christianity
Why it may be impossible to criticize Emerson’s position successfully
Emerson’s contention that our society turns human beings into “things” rather than “Man”
Emerson’s view of the value of books
The duty of the scholar
Self-trust, self-reliance, non-conformity
The Over-Soul
Wright
Development of the idea of types, purposes == From Aristotle to early modern era
Positivism
Darwinism (natural selection) as a process without a mind. Meaning of this, implications – see both Natural Theology as a Positive Science and “The Evolution of Self-Consciousness,” esp. p. 84
Why “social Darwinism” is not justified
The distinction between evolution and evolutionism
Why it is inappropriate to think of evolution as progress
Critique of the Teleological Argument
Argument that science does not give evidence of final causes
Why advances in science are advances in religion, and why science is not irreligious
Science as cognitive, religion as feeling
The distinction between ancient and modern science as a distinction between the subjective method and the objective method
Peirce
What is inquiry? How is doubt characterized?
Methods of “fixing belief” and their characterizations
Peirce’s notion of the meaning of terms, concepts, etc. – see V. II, p. 107
The pragmatic maxim
Operationalism
Why metaphysical claims cannot be verified
Peirce’s attitude and view of practical results in science
Peirce’s conception of the real and the ability of human beings to understand it
James
The pragmatic method
The “Difference” Quotation
James’s conception of the notion of truth – see both V. I and V. II and notes online on James regarding truth and expediency and morality, our behavior, and expediency
The conception of meaning in James’s view
See vol. I, p. 113 – what pragmatism turns from, what it turns toward – how this is the “spirit” of pragmatism
The notion of “cash value”
The Will to Believe and comparison to Pascal
Intellectualism and anti-Intellectualism
Options & Hypotheses
The justification of religious belief even in the absence of evidence