Philosophy

1. In Descartes’ First Meditation, why does he set about doubting all of his knowledge? What is he hoping to achieve?  2. In the First Meditation, Descartes provides two skeptical arguments. What are they, and what kind of knowledge claims does each argument call into question? 3. In the Second Meditation, Descartes argues that we can be certain of one thing. What does he claim we can know with certainty, and what is the reason he gives? Do you agree that we can know this with certainty? 4. In the Second Meditation, Descartes introduces the wax analogy. Explain the significance of the wax example. What was the purpose in Descartes’ example? 5. In the Third Meditation, Descartes talks about three sources of ideas: innate, adventitious, and self-created. Explain what these ideas are. How does Descartes relate the idea of an idea’s source with the idea of God? Where does Descartes claim the idea of God comes from?

Question 1: Internalism vs Externalism Does Philippa Foot think that we have a duty to be moral? In what sense do we have such a duty, and in what sense do we not?Question 2: Moral Explanations According to Harman, what role does observation play in mathematics that it does not play in ethics?Question 3: Debunking ArgumentsIn arguing against the tracking account (and in favor of the adaptive link account), Street mentions that the adaptive link account is more parsimonious. Why might this criticism not apply to reductive realists?

QUESTION 1 Fill in the blank: Is the following argument an inductive argument or a deductive argument? “Every planet in our solar system is smaller than the sun. Jupiter is a planet in our solar system. Therefore, Jupiter is smaller than the sun.”   QUESTION 2 Fill in the blank: Is the following argument a deductive argument or an inductive argument? “Most antibiotics are effective for treating bacterial infections. You have a bacterial infection. You are taking the antibiotic Q. Thus, the antibiotic you are taking will be effective in treating your bacterial infection.”   QUESTION 3 Fill in the blank: Is the following argument a deductive argument or an inductive argument? “I just drank a bottle of Sunrise Spring Mineral Water. Since it has been shown that most bottled water is safe, I can conclude, with some confidence, that the water is safe.”   QUESTION 4 Which of the following best describes an inductive argument? Given the truth of the premises, the conclusion is guaranteed to be true A weak deductive argument Given the truth of the conclusion, the premises are guaranteed to be true Given the truth of the premises, the conclusion is very likely to be true   QUESTION 5 A categorical syllogism is a type of argument that consists of two components, the subject term and the __________ term.   QUESTION 6 Which of the following best describes a deductive argument? Given the truth of the premises, the conclusion is guaranteed to be true A generalization from a set of particular statements to a general hypothesis Given the truth of the premises, the conclusion is most likely to be true Given the truth of the conclusion, the premises are most likely false   QUESTION 7 An argument is a set of two or more propositions related to each other in such a way that all but one of them (the premises) are supposed to provide support for the remaining one (the conclusion).  True  False   QUESTION 8 What is the term used to describe the propositions / statements that are used to provide support for the conclusion?   QUESTION 9 Fill in the blank: Is the following argument a deductive argument or an inductive argument? “Every raven I have ever seen has been black. My daughter just spotted a raven in our backyard. The raven in our backyard is most likely black.”   QUESTION 10 Fill in the blank: Is the following argument a deductive argument or an inductive argument? “All dogs have canines. You have a dog named Toby. Therefore, your dog named Toby has canines.”

Compare and contrast nihilism and existentialism

Discuss the central assumptions of the postmodern worldview. What is postmodernism?

Describe one specific instance in which you tried to find information to build up your side of an argument but not the other side. Reflect on any advantages and disadvantages of such an approach. While addressing the topic, use an inductive generalization that will have a biased sample.

1) First, discuss whether or how some of the categories offered by Held’s Feminist Transformation of Moral Theory could reveal or counter the sexual violence and silencing involved in the current “Me Too” movement. {In you answer consider how serving justice here would require challenging both “cultural conceptions” (social codes) and “structures” (institutions), and thus introduce an alternative notion of “legitimate” social relations (see end of Tommy Curry essay)} 2) after considering Tommy Curry’s analysis of the sexual violence involved in racism: discuss how a Black Lives Matter movement needs to face the challenges involved in dealing with (Young’s) psychological “abjection” (phobic fear/desire), and what difficulties may be involved in Young’s project of “consciousness raising” (asking each to take responsibility for their “practical consciousness” and action), and hopes for a “revolution in subjectivity” (seeing yourself as potentially “other”).

A Polemic is an argumentative text or speech that takes a position contrary to the mainstream, or to another specific argument. Your assignment is to take a newspaper editorial or an excerpt from a longer editorial, approximately 400 – 700 words, and critique its arguments point by point. The polemic should use 1-inch margins, 12 point Times font, be double spaced, and be approximately 1 ½ to 2 pages. provide editorial link to me. Check document for more detailed information.

Introduction Having finished arguments for the existence of God, we have now turned to what philosophical inquiry can know about what God is like (or, according to classical theists, what God is not like), i.e.  “divine attributes” like simplicity, perfection, goodness, omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, etc. One of the main points of disagreement between classical theists and theistic personalists is whether God is immutable, that is whether God can or does change in any way. Classical theists say “God cannot change. Anything that can or does change in any way is not God.” Consider the following argument from Aquinas: It was shown above that there is some first being, whom we call God; and…this first being must be purely actual, not possessing of any potentiality [to be otherwise], because, considered absolutely, potentiality is posterior to act [i.e. what is potential is not first]. Now everything which is in any way changed, is in some way in potentiality. Hence it is evident that it is impossible for God [the first being] to be in any way changeable.  Summa Theologiae, q. 9, a. 1 Theistic personalists, on the other hand, argue that “God must be able to change and God must actually change. The idea of a being that cannot be different in any way is not an idea of God.” Consider this argument from Grace Jantzen: A living God cannot be static: life implies change… This means that the doctrine of [divine] immutability cannot be interpreted as absolute changlessness, which would preclude divine responsiveness and must rather be taken [to mean] “steadfastness of character.” Grace Jantzen, in A New Dictionary of Christian Theology, edited by A. Richardson and J. Bowden (London, 1983), p. 573 Likewise, another argument is made by Richard Creel: “An absolutely perfect being will have the power of agency, i.e. be able intentionally to cause things to happen. But for an agent intentionally to cause something to happen which was not happening requires that he was not willing it and then began to will it–but to change from not willing something to willing it is to change. Therefore, in order to have this power of agency, an individual must be able to change… Therefore, God must be able to change. Therefore God must be mutable.” Richard E. Creel, “Immutability and Impassibility,” in A Companion to Philosophy of Religion, editec by P. Quinn and C. Taliaferro (Oxford, 1997), p. 314 So, obviously there is great disagreement about this subject. Prompt Based on these quotes and the readings from this week, write a paper on divine immutability. Specifically, consider the following statement, endorsed by Classical Theists: “Only an unchanging and unchangeable God could account for there being a world of changing and changeable things.” In your paper, evaluate the truth or falsity of this statement. If you think it is true, state why it is true and explain why the theistic personalists’ objections to divine immutability fall short. If you think it is false, state why it false and explain why the classical theists’ arguments for divine immutability fall short.  In your paper, be sure to quote and/or cite arguments and reasons from the week’s readings. Instructions Length: Minimum of 500 words. Formatting Requirements: Double spaced, 12 point font, Times New Roman, 1 inch margins Citations: Chicago Manuel of Style. You may use footnotes or parenthetical citations .

Describe the Square of Opposition What is categorical logic? What is the purpose of the Square of Opposition? Identify key features of the Square of Opposition. Explain how the Square of Opposition is used to translate statements into standard-form claims and corresponding standard-form claims including description of the relationships that are depicted within the square. Identify the components of the A, E, I and O standard-form claims (or propositions). Using the diagram in your text as a guide, create one original example using an ordinary statement and translating it into standard-form claims (A, E, I and O statements) using the Square of Opposition. Identify the translation and claims in your example using the corresponding letter. For each corresponding standard-form claim, explain how you identified the translation and corresponding claims and their relationship to one another based on the relationships depicted on the square. In other words, explain why each choice of claim in your example is correct for that particular relationship. Example provided must be original and not taken from our lecture, textbook readings or online resources. Required Elements: Your essay must have an APA style formatted title page and reference list. Your essay should be 2-3 pages (in additional to a title page and reference list) with an introduction paragraph, body paragraphs that address each required portion of the prompt, and a conclusion. Your essay must follow APA style formatting throughout (Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced, etc.). Your essay should include research that consistently supports your presented points and ideas. A minimum of 2 different sources must be utilized and cited properly with in-text citations and in the reference list. Avoid using large amount of quotes. If you summarize or paraphrase information in your own words, you must cite sources to provide credit for the ideas and concepts.