Philosophy and Ethics Flashcards
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Read the first 7 Philosophy and Ethics flashcards as text
A deductive argument is considered valid when:
Answer: If the premises are true, the conclusion must logically follow
Validity in deductive logic means the argument's structure guarantees that a true conclusion follows from true premises, regardless of whether the premises are actually true.
The logical fallacy of 'ad hominem' occurs when someone:
Answer: Attacks the person making an argument rather than addressing the argument itself
Ad hominem (Latin for 'to the person') is a fallacy that redirects the argument from the claim being made to the character or credibility of the person making it.
Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialism is best captured by the claim that:
Answer: Existence precedes essence, so humans create their own meaning through choices
Sartre argued that unlike manufactured objects (which have a predetermined purpose), humans first exist and then define their essence through free choices and actions.
The philosophical principle known as 'Occam's Razor' advises that:
Answer: Among competing explanations, the one requiring fewer assumptions should be preferred
Occam's Razor (attributed to William of Ockham) is the principle of parsimony: entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity, favoring simpler explanations.
Which philosopher is most closely associated with the development of pragmatism, the distinctly American philosophical tradition?
Answer: William James
William James, along with Charles Sanders Peirce and John Dewey, developed pragmatism, which holds that the truth or meaning of an idea lies in its practical consequences.
Phenomenology, the philosophical method developed by Edmund Husserl, focuses primarily on:
Answer: The systematic study of first-person conscious experience as it appears
Phenomenology brackets assumptions about the external world to describe the structures of conscious experience exactly as they appear to the perceiving subject.
The philosophical position known as empiricism holds that the primary source of human knowledge is:
Answer: Sensory experience and observation of the world
Empiricism, championed by Locke, Berkeley, and Hume, argues that the mind begins as a blank slate and all knowledge originates from experience through the senses.