PhB Bachelor of Philosophy Metaphysics and Reality 3

Question 1

The A-theory of time holds that there is an objective distinction between past, present, and future, and that:

Accepted Answer

The present is objectively privileged and time genuinely flows

Answer

All times are equally real and the present has no special status

Answer

Time is relational and does not exist independently

Answer

The future does not yet exist and the past no longer exists

Question 2

Nominalism about universals is the view that:

Accepted Answer

Only particular concrete individuals exist; there are no abstract universals

Answer

Abstract properties exist as independent entities in a Platonic realm

Answer

Properties exist within concrete particulars but not independently

Answer

Universals exist as concepts in the mind

Question 3

Personal identity over time is often analyzed in terms of which of the following criteria?

Accepted Answer

Psychological continuity, physical continuity, or narrative identity

Answer

Physical continuity of atoms, logical identity, legal status

Answer

Social recognition, biological species membership, rational agency

Answer

Memory alone, without any physical criterion

Question 4

The principle of sufficient reason, associated with Leibniz, states that:

Accepted Answer

Everything that exists has a cause or reason for its existence

Answer

All knowledge derives from sensory experience

Answer

Moral facts are independent of natural facts

Answer

Logical contradictions cannot describe reality

Question 5

Mereology is the philosophical study of:

Accepted Answer

Parts and wholes, and the relations between them

Answer

The nature of time and temporal relations

Answer

The existence and nature of numbers

Answer

The relationship between language and meaning

Question 6

In metaphysics, the term 'supervenience' means that mental properties supervene on physical properties in the sense that:

Accepted Answer

No mental difference without a physical difference

Answer

Mental properties are identical to physical properties

Answer

Physical properties cause mental properties to exist

Answer

Mental properties are epiphenomenal