Things to Know for Midterm
I
Philosophy 134
SS I 09
Format: The exam will consist of two parts: short answer
and long answer. There will be 6-8 short answer questions of which you pick
4-5. Answers should be anywhere from one to five sentences. There will be
3 long answer questions, of which you pick 2. Answers should be about 2 blue-book
pages, front and back. The exam is scheduled for Wednesday May 27 at 11:30, our regular
class time, our regular class place. There will be a brief review
in class on Tuesday, and on the discussion forum, if you choose to use it.
Some Terms
Deductive Arguments
Valid/Invalid
Sound
Inductive Arguments
Strong/Weak
Cogent
Possible Worlds
A Priori
A Posteriori
Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omnibenevolence
Paradox of Omnipotence
Fallacy of Composition
The Principle of Sufficient Reason (PSR)
Brute Facts
Argument by Analogy
Anselm's Definition of God
Reductio Ad Absurdum
Existence in the Mind
Existence in Reality
Quantitative vs. Qualitative Identity
Principles, Arguments, and
Objections
The Cosmological Argument--Aquinas'
Second Way or The Argument from Causation
Aquinas' argument for premise 3 (of The Second Way)
The Problem with Aquinas' argument for premise 3 (of The Second Way)
"Infinity is weird" objection
"Infinity if Weird? BFD!" response
Hilbert's Hotel
Series of Walls Example
The Teleological Argument
The Fallacy of Composition (and which argument(s) it applies to)
Hume's Objections to the Teleological Argument
The Ontological Argument
Guanilo's Perfect Island Objection
Kant's Objection: Existence is not a Predicate
Inconceivability Objection (against GCB)
Existence in the Mind and Criterion of Identity
"Greater than"? WTF?
Page Last Updated: May 20, 2009
Back to Phil 134 SS I 09
Back to Meg's Teaching Page
Back to Meg's Main Page