AA Philosophy and Critical Thinking 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which ethical theory holds that the morality of an action is determined solely by its consequences?
- Deontology
- Virtue ethics
- Consequentialism (Correct answer)
- Divine command theory
Correct answer: Consequentialism
Consequentialism evaluates actions based on their outcomes or consequences, with utilitarianism being the most well-known consequentialist theory.
Question 2: The 'straw man' fallacy occurs when someone:
- Argues from authority
- Misrepresents an opponent's argument to make it easier to attack (Correct answer)
- Assumes what they are trying to prove
- Draws a false analogy
Correct answer: Misrepresents an opponent's argument to make it easier to attack
A straw man fallacy involves distorting or exaggerating an opponent's position to make it easier to refute, rather than addressing the actual argument.
Question 3: In Plato's Allegory of the Cave, the prisoners in the cave represent people who:
- Achieve philosophical enlightenment
- Perceive only shadows and mistake them for reality (Correct answer)
- Are morally corrupt and refuse truth
- Follow democratic rather than philosopher-king rule
Correct answer: Perceive only shadows and mistake them for reality
The prisoners symbolize those who mistake appearances and sensory perceptions for true reality, unaware of the deeper philosophical truths outside the cave.
Question 4: Which term describes a statement that is true by definition and cannot be denied without contradiction?
- Synthetic proposition
- Empirical claim
- Analytic proposition (Correct answer)
- Contingent truth
Correct answer: Analytic proposition
An analytic proposition (e.g., 'All bachelors are unmarried') is true by the meaning of the terms involved and is necessarily true.
Question 5: Aristotle's concept of the 'Golden Mean' suggests that virtue is:
- The absolute rule that applies in all situations
- A divine gift not attainable through practice
- The midpoint between excess and deficiency (Correct answer)
- The pursuit of maximum pleasure
Correct answer: The midpoint between excess and deficiency
Aristotle argued that virtuous traits (like courage) represent a mean between two extremes (recklessness and cowardice), and are developed through habit.
Question 6: The philosophical problem of the 'mind-body problem' concerns:
- Whether the mind can be studied empirically
- How mental states relate to physical brain states (Correct answer)
- Whether free will exists within a deterministic universe
- The ethics of using the brain for artificial intelligence
Correct answer: How mental states relate to physical brain states
The mind-body problem explores how and whether mental phenomena (thoughts, feelings) are related to or caused by physical brain processes.
Question 7: Which philosopher wrote 'Meditations on First Philosophy' and is famous for the statement 'I think, therefore I am'?
- John Locke
- David Hume
- René Descartes (Correct answer)
- Blaise Pascal
Correct answer: René Descartes
René Descartes wrote the Meditations and used radical doubt to arrive at the foundational truth 'Cogito, ergo sum' — proof of the thinking self's existence.
AA Philosophy and Critical Thinking 2
Which ethical theory holds that the morality of an action is determined solely by its consequences?