BA Philosophy and Ethics 3

Question 1

A deductive argument is considered valid when:

Accepted Answer

If the premises are true, the conclusion must logically follow

Answer

All of its premises are factually true

Answer

The conclusion is accepted by a majority of people

Answer

The argument contains no emotional appeals

Question 2

The logical fallacy of 'ad hominem' occurs when someone:

Accepted Answer

Attacks the person making an argument rather than addressing the argument itself

Answer

Appeals to an authority figure to settle a debate

Answer

Makes a false comparison between two dissimilar things

Answer

Assumes the conclusion is true within the premise

Question 3

Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialism is best captured by the claim that:

Accepted Answer

Existence precedes essence, so humans create their own meaning through choices

Answer

Human essence is determined before individuals exist

Answer

Human existence is predetermined by God or nature

Answer

Reality is fundamentally unknowable and meaningless

Question 4

The philosophical principle known as 'Occam's Razor' advises that:

Accepted Answer

Among competing explanations, the one requiring fewer assumptions should be preferred

Answer

All knowledge derives from sensory experience

Answer

All moral judgments are relative to cultural context

Answer

The mind and body are two separate and distinct substances

Question 5

Which philosopher is most closely associated with the development of pragmatism, the distinctly American philosophical tradition?

Accepted Answer

William James

Answer

Bertrand Russell

Answer

G.W.F. Hegel

Answer

Friedrich Nietzsche

Question 6

Phenomenology, the philosophical method developed by Edmund Husserl, focuses primarily on:

Accepted Answer

The systematic study of first-person conscious experience as it appears

Answer

The logical analysis of language and its meaning

Answer

The historical development of philosophical ideas over time

Answer

The mathematical and logical foundations of reasoning

Question 7

The philosophical position known as empiricism holds that the primary source of human knowledge is:

Accepted Answer

Sensory experience and observation of the world

Answer

Innate ideas and pure rational intuition

Answer

Divine revelation and religious authority

Answer

Social consensus and cultural tradition