The exam will be based on the readings
and handouts and how well you
understand the views of Descartes and
Locke, as well as various concepts, such
as a priori knowledge vs a posteriori
knowledge.

Possible true/false question:

"A bachelor is an unmarried male" is an
example of an a priori truth.

Descartes thought philosophy could
attain the same exactness and certainty
present in mathematics.

An idea of a horse is a simple idea.

Roundness is a seconary quality.

Locke was a naive realist.

Descartes was a rationalist.

Descartes was a skeptic.

Locke believed in innate ideas.

Possible multiple choice questions:

Empiricism is the view that
(a) knowledge comes from the senses
(b) knowledge comes through reason,
not the senses
(c) truth is relative to the believer
(d) empires are necessary to support an
educated class equipped to discover
knowledge

Descartes attempts to prove the
existence of God by arguing
(a) belief in God is a rational gamble,
since the rewards of faith are so great
and the liabilities so small
(b) since we are finite and imperfect, we
couldn't have invented the idea of an
infinite and perfect God ourselves
(c) if a house cannot be built with an
architect and builder, how can the
universe exist without a Great Architect
and Creator?
(d) none of the above

The Gettier problem is a that
(a) sometimes a true belief is not justified
(b) sometimes a justified belief is not true
(c) sometimes a true justified belief is not
knowledge
(d) sometimes knowledge is false

Prof. Borrowdale

(Answers anyone?)