PhD Doctor of Philosophy Epistemology and Theory of Knowledge 2

Question 1

Descartes' method of doubt in the Meditations is an example of which epistemological approach?

Accepted Answer

Methodological skepticism

Answer

Descartes used systematic doubt as a method to strip away uncertain beliefs and find indubitable foundations for knowledge.

Question 2

A priori knowledge is best described as knowledge that is:

Accepted Answer

Independent of sensory experience

Answer

A priori knowledge, like mathematical truths, can be known through reason alone without relying on experience.

Question 3

Which philosopher argued that all knowledge comes from sensory experience, coining the phrase 'tabula rasa'?

Accepted Answer

John Locke

Answer

Locke held in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding that the mind begins as a blank slate filled by experience.

Question 4

Kant's 'Copernican Revolution' in epistemology claimed that:

Accepted Answer

Objects conform to our cognition, not the reverse

Answer

Kant argued that our cognitive faculties impose structure on experience, making the mind constitutive of objects of knowledge.

Question 5

The problem of induction, highlighted by Hume, questions the rational justification for inferring:

Accepted Answer

General laws from particular observations

Answer

Hume showed that no logical necessity forces future cases to follow patterns observed in the past, undermining inductive inference.

PhD Doctor of Philosophy Practice Test