Philosophy - Unit 1 And 2 Essay Questions

Front 1

Explain the difference between inductive and deductive arguments. (15)

Back 1

1 - Give a description of an inductive argument and an example e.g. 99 swans
2 - Give a description of a deductive argument and an example e.g. Socrates is a man...

Front 2

"The mind contains an innate grasp of how the world is." Discuss. (30)

Back 2

1 - Locke's view
2 - Descartes' view
3 - Kant's view

Front 3

Explain and illustrate two reasons for thinking that morality should not be identified with
whatever is advantageous to us. (15)

Back 3

1 - It is our duty to be moral (Kant)
2 - Humans are sympathetic (Hume)

Front 4

‘Disregarding self-interest leaves us without any motivation to act morally.’ Discuss. (30)

Back 4

1 - Hobbes' view
2 - Kant's view
3 - Plato's view

Front 5

Explain and illustrate one strength and one weakness of idealism. (15)

Back 5

1 - Rests upon the foundation of something we have no independent proof of, as it goes against the common sense argument
2 - Our only access to reality is through mediation of the mind and it to some extent the world exists only as an idea

Front 6

Assess the claim that sense data are unnecessary in explaining our perceptions of the
world. (30)

Back 6

1 - Berkeley's view
2 - Reid's view
3 - Locke's view

Front 7

Explain and illustrate two criticisms of the view that we value art because it expresses
the feelings of the artist. (15)

Back 7

1 - We have no way of knowing what the artist was feeling at the time of creation
2 - How exactly is emotion contained within a piece of work?

Front 8

Assess the claim that we should value art because it truthfully represents reality. (30)

Back 8

1 - Tolstoy's view
2 - Plato's view
3 - Aristotle's view

Front 9

Explain and illustrate what is meant by the claim that experience is intelligible only
because we possess a predetermined conceptual scheme. (15)

Back 9

1 - Define conceptual schemes in detail
2 - What problems do they aim to solve?

Front 10

Assess the view that no significant claims about what exists are known a priori. (30)

Back 10

1 - Locke's view
2 - Plato's view
3 - Kant's view

Front 11

Explain and illustrate two criticisms of the contractual view of why we should be moral. (15)

Back 11

1 - The pale of morality
2 - The free rider problem

Front 12

‘Being moral does not require me to do anything more than to conform to moral rules.’ Discuss. (30)

Back 12

1 - Hobbes' view
2 - Plato/Aristotle's view
3 - Kant's view

Front 13

Explain and illustrate two differences between primary and secondary qualities. (15)

Back 13

1 - Primary qualities are independant of the observer, whereas secondary require sense experience
2 - Primary qualities provide objective facts, whereas secondary qualities cannot as they are subjective

Front 14

‘The strengths of idealism outweigh the weaknesses.’
Discuss. (30)

Back 14

1 - Mediation of the mind
2 - Berkeley and resting on the foundation of God
3 - Solving the problems with representative realism e.g. breaking down the primary/secondary quality thesis

Front 15

Explain and illustrate two criticisms of the view that art is supposed to represent reality. (15)

Back 15

1 - Plato's argument about art's pointlessness
2 - We may value an abstract picture more than a simple yet accurate picture

Front 16

‘The main reason that we value art is because it expresses the mood or feelings of the
artist.’ Discuss. (30)

Back 16

1 - Collingwood's view
2 - Tolstoy's view
3 - Kant's view

Front 17

Outline and illustrate the view that certainty is confined to introspection and the
tautological. (15)

Back 17

1 - Analytic propositions and what information they provide
2 - Room for doubt (inductive reasoning)

Front 18

Assess the view that we have no innate knowledge. (30)

Back 18

1 - Locke's view
2 - Descartes' view
3 - Kant's view

Front 19

Outline and illustrate two criticisms of the view that self-interest is irrelevant to morality. (15)

Back 19

1 - This theory supposes that humans are not self-interested (we can see contract theory reflected in the world)
2 - It is in our self interest to be moral (Plato)

Front 20

Assess the view that morality is a conventional agreement for our mutual advantage. (30)

Back 20

1 - Hobbes' view
2 - Kant's view
3 - Plato's view

Front 21

Explain and illustrate two criticisms of idealism. (15)

Back 21

1 - Rests upon the foundation of something we have no independent proof of, as it goes against the common sense argument
2 - We have no way of checking resemblance as we have no true experience with reality and this lack of objective truth could lead to scepticism

Front 22

Assess the claim that the immediate objects of perception are sense-data that represent
the external world. (30)

Back 22

1 - Russell's view
2 - Locke's view
3 - Berkeley's view

Front 23

Explain and illustrate two criticisms of the view that we value art because of its form. (15)

Back 23

1 - No clear distinction between form and significant form
2 - Does this mean that representative/religious art is not proper art?

Front 24

‘The point of art is to lead us to the truth.’ Discuss. (30)

Back 24

1 - Tolstoy's view
2 - Plato's view
3 - Aristotle's view

Front 25

Illustrating your answer, explain the difference between analytic and synthetic
propositions. (15)

Back 25

1 - Give a definition of an analytic proposition and an example e.g. all bachelors are unmarried
2 - Give a definition of a synthetic proposition and an example e.g. snow is white

Front 26

Assess the claim that all knowledge and ideas derive from sense experience. (30)

Back 26

1 - Locke's view
2 - Descartes' view
3 - Kant's view

Front 27

Outline and illustrate two ways of distinguishing primary from secondary qualities. (15)

Back 27

1 - Primary qualities are independant of the observer, whereas secondary require sense experience
2 - Primary qualities provide objective facts, whereas secondary qualities cannot as they are subjective

Front 28

‘Sense-data theories cause more problems than they solve.’ Assess whether this claim is justified. (30)

Back 28

1 - We have no way of checking resemblance (this is a problem for all sense-data theories)
2 - Defence of sense-data theories (illusion e.g. pencil in a glass of water)
3 - Problems with both representative realism and idealism

Front 29

Explain and illustrate two reasons for regarding form as important in judging a work of art. (15)

Back 29

1 - Formalism defends abstract art like Picasso
2 - It explains how something can be art even if it does not express emotion e.g. buildings, sculptures...

Front 30

‘We value art because of the information it conveys.’ Assess the validity of this claim. (30)

Back 30

1 - Tolstoy's view
2 - Kant's view
3 - Plato's view

Front 31

Explain and illustrate why there is a problem concerning the conclusions reached through inductive arguments. (15)

Back 31

1 - No certainty (as opposed to certainty in deductive arguments)
2 - Hume's fork and contingency

Front 32

‘At birth the mind is a tabula rasa.’ Discuss. (30)

Back 32

1 - Locke's view
2 - Descartes' view
3 - Kant's view

Front 33

Explain and illustrate two objections to the view that if we understand what is good and acquire the virtues, we will flourish and be happy. (15)

Back 33

1 - Supposes that understanding what is good leads to goodness (does the same apply for being wicked?)
2 - The perfectly just/unjust man

Front 34

‘The only genuinely moral motivation for performing an action is that it is the right action.’ Discuss. (30)

Back 34

1 - Kant's view
2 - Hobbes' view
3 - Plato's view

Front 35

Outline and illustrate three characteristics of sense-data. (15)

Back 35

1 - Sense data are the kind of thing we are directly aware of in perception.
2 - Sense data are dependent on the mind.
3 - Sense data have the properties that perceptually appear to us.

Front 36

Consider the claim that the weaknesses of representative realism outweigh its strengths. (30)

Back 36

1 - No way of checking resemblance
2 - Improvement on direct realism (mediation of the mind and illusions)
3 - Incompatible with empiricism

Front 37

Explain and illustrate two reasons for rejecting the view that ‘art should imitate reality’. (15)

Back 37

1 - We value abstract art
2 - Forgeries are not artistic/denies the true nature of art

Front 38

Assess the claim that ‘we value art because it expresses the feelings of the artist’. (30)

Back 38

1 - Collingwood's view
2 - Tolstoy's view
3 - Kant's view