Philosophy and Ethics Flashcards
6 cards from real B.L.A.; occasionally A.L.B. Bachelor of Liberal Arts practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Philosophy and Ethics flashcards as text
The philosophical distinction between 'a priori' and 'a posteriori' knowledge refers to which difference?
Answer: A priori knowledge is independent of experience while a posteriori knowledge is derived from experience
A priori knowledge (like mathematical truths) can be known through reason alone, while a posteriori knowledge requires empirical experience.
Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of the 'Übermensch' (Superman) primarily represents which philosophical idea?
Answer: An ideal individual who creates their own values beyond conventional morality
Nietzsche's Übermensch is the individual who overcomes conventional morality and societal constraints to create their own values and meaning.
In ethics, the 'trolley problem' is most commonly used to illustrate which philosophical tension?
Answer: The conflict between utilitarian and deontological moral reasoning
The trolley problem forces a choice between pulling a lever to save five lives at the cost of one, highlighting the tension between consequentialist and deontological ethics.
René Descartes' famous statement 'Cogito, ergo sum' ('I think, therefore I am') established which philosophical point?
Answer: The existence of the thinking self is the one indubitable foundation for knowledge
Descartes used methodological doubt to strip away all uncertain beliefs, finding that the very act of doubting proves the existence of the doubting self.
The philosophical concept of 'free will' is most directly challenged by which competing view?
Answer: Determinism, which holds that all events are causally determined by prior causes
Determinism challenges free will by arguing that all events, including human decisions, are necessitated by prior causes and natural laws.
David Hume's 'problem of induction' challenges which aspect of scientific and everyday reasoning?
Answer: The logical justification for inferring general laws from particular observed instances
Hume argued that we have no logical basis for assuming that past regularities (like the sun rising) will continue in the future.