PhD Doctor of Philosophy Metaphysics and Ontology 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Ontology is the branch of metaphysics that investigates the nature and categories of:
- Being and existence (Correct answer)
- Knowledge and justification
- Moral value
- Logical inference
Correct answer: Being and existence
Ontology asks fundamental questions about what exists, what kinds of things there are, and what it means for something to exist.
Question 2: Platonism in metaphysics holds that abstract objects such as numbers and properties:
- Exist independently of minds and concrete things (Correct answer)
- Are mental constructions
- Are useful fictions
- Reduce to physical patterns
Correct answer: Exist independently of minds and concrete things
Plato argued that abstract entities like the Form of Beauty or the number 7 have objective, mind-independent existence in a non-physical realm.
Question 3: Nominalism in the debate over universals holds that only:
- Particular individual things exist (Correct answer)
- Abstract universal forms exist
- Both particulars and universals exist
- Mental images exist
Correct answer: Particular individual things exist
Nominalists deny the existence of abstract universals, claiming that general terms like 'redness' refer only to collections of similar particulars.
Question 4: The principle of parsimony (Occam's Razor) in metaphysics recommends not multiplying:
- Entities beyond necessity (Correct answer)
- Arguments beyond their scope
- Intuitions without evidence
- Definitions without precision
Correct answer: Entities beyond necessity
William of Ockham's principle holds that when two theories explain the same facts, prefer the one that posits fewer kinds of entities.
Question 5: Mereology is the study of the relationship between:
- Parts and wholes (Correct answer)
- Causes and effects
- Mind and body
- Space and time
Correct answer: Parts and wholes
Mereology examines questions like when parts compose a whole, whether wholes are distinct from their parts, and what determines an object's boundaries.
Question 6: Quine's criterion of ontological commitment states that we are committed to the existence of all entities that are:
- Values of bound variables in true statements (Correct answer)
- Named by nouns in our language
- Perceived by the senses
- Logically necessary
Correct answer: Values of bound variables in true statements
Quine argued that to find what a theory says exists, ask what objects must be quantified over for its sentences to be true.
PhD Doctor of Philosophy Metaphysics and Ontology 1
Ontology is the branch of metaphysics that investigates the nature and categories of: