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The philosophical doctrine of empiricism posits that the primary, if not sole, origin of genuine knowledge and justification lies in sensory experience and empirical evidence.
Answer: True
Empiricism, as an epistemological framework, asserts that the genesis of true knowledge and justification is fundamentally rooted in sensory experience and empirical evidence.
In contrast to empiricism, rationalism contends that knowledge can be derived exclusively from abstract reasoning and innate ideas, independent of sensory input.
Answer: True
Rationalism posits that reason is the principal source of knowledge, often asserting the existence of innate ideas, thereby distinguishing itself from empiricism's reliance on sensory experience.
A core tenet of empiricism is the rejection of innate ideas; it asserts that all concepts are acquired through experience, rather than being pre-existing or derived solely from tradition or divine revelation.
Answer: True
Empiricism fundamentally rejects the notion of innate ideas, positing instead that the mind begins as a 'tabula rasa' (blank slate) and all concepts are formed through sensory experience and subsequent reflection.
Contrary to this assertion, empiricists generally regard sensory experience and empirical observation as more reliable methods for discovering truth than abstract logical reasoning alone.
Answer: False
Empiricists prioritize sensory experience and empirical evidence as the primary sources of knowledge, considering logical reasoning as a tool to organize and analyze this experiential data, not as a more reliable source than experience itself.
In the philosophy of science, empiricism mandates that hypotheses must be tested against abstract reasoning rather than empirical observations.
Answer: False
The philosophy of science, informed by empiricism, mandates that hypotheses and theories must be rigorously tested against empirical observations and experimental data, not solely against abstract reasoning.
Natural scientists adhering to empiricism believe knowledge is based on experience and is inherently tentative and probabilistic, subject to ongoing revision and potential falsification.
Answer: True
Within the scientific community, empiricism underpins the view that knowledge is provisional, subject to empirical verification, and inherently probabilistic, rather than absolute or immutable.
Empiricism is fundamental to the scientific method, emphasizing the use of empirical evidence, observation, and experimentation to test hypotheses and theories, rather than relying solely on reason or revelation.
Answer: True
The scientific method is deeply rooted in empiricism, prioritizing observable evidence, systematic experimentation, and the formulation of testable hypotheses as the basis for scientific knowledge.
According to Shelley (2006), empiricism holds that knowledge is based on experience and is absolute and unchanging.
Answer: False
Empiricism, as described by Shelley, posits that knowledge derived from experience is inherently tentative and probabilistic, subject to revision, rather than absolute and unchanging.
What is the fundamental epistemological principle of empiricism?
Answer: True knowledge originates mainly from sensory experience and empirical evidence.
The foundational principle of empiricism is that knowledge and justification are primarily derived from sensory experience and empirical observation.
How does empiricism primarily differentiate itself from rationalism?
Answer: Empiricism relies on sensory experience, while rationalism relies on reason alone.
The primary distinction lies in their foundational sources of knowledge: empiricism emphasizes sensory experience, whereas rationalism prioritizes reason and innate ideas.
According to the empiricist view, what is the role of sensory experience in idea formation?
Answer: It is crucial for shaping ideas, rejecting innate concepts.
Empiricism posits that sensory experience is the fundamental mechanism through which ideas are formed, rejecting the notion of pre-existing innate concepts.
In the philosophy of science, how is empiricism applied?
Answer: By requiring hypotheses to be tested against experiments and observations.
Empiricism is integral to the scientific method, mandating that scientific hypotheses and theories must be rigorously tested through empirical observation and experimentation.
According to empiricist natural scientists, what is the nature of knowledge?
Answer: Tentative, probabilistic, and subject to revision.
Empiricist natural scientists generally view knowledge as provisional, subject to empirical testing, and inherently probabilistic, rather than absolute or definitively proven.
According to Shelley (2006), what is a key characteristic of knowledge from an empiricist perspective?
Answer: It is tentative and probabilistic.
Empiricism posits that knowledge derived from experience is inherently provisional and probabilistic, subject to revision based on new evidence.
Francis Bacon first advocated for empiricism in England in 1620 through his work, *Novum Organum*.
Answer: True
Francis Bacon's seminal work, *Novum Organum*, published in 1620, is widely considered a foundational text for the development of empiricism in England, advocating for a new method of scientific inquiry based on observation and induction.
John Locke in England, George Berkeley in Ireland, and David Hume in Scotland are recognized as the leading exponents of empiricism during the Enlightenment.
Answer: True
The Enlightenment period witnessed the flourishing of British empiricism, primarily through the influential contributions of John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume, who systematically developed its core principles.
John Locke argued that all human knowledge is *a posteriori*, meaning it is derived from experience, and famously proposed the mind begins as a *tabula rasa*.
Answer: True
In his seminal work, *An Essay Concerning Human Understanding*, John Locke posited that knowledge is acquired exclusively through experience (*a posteriori*) and that the mind is initially a blank slate (*tabula rasa*).
Locke identified sensation (external experience) and reflection (internal experience of the mind's operations) as the two sources of human ideas.
Answer: True
John Locke delineated two primary sources for all ideas: sensation, which pertains to external objects perceived by the senses, and reflection, which involves the mind's internal operations on these sensations.
Locke defined primary qualities as inherent properties essential to an object's existence (like shape or size), while secondary qualities are the sensory perceptions arising from these primary qualities (like color or taste).
Answer: True
John Locke distinguished between primary qualities, which are intrinsic to objects (e.g., solidity, extension), and secondary qualities, which are powers to produce sensations in us (e.g., color, sound, taste).
George Berkeley critiqued Locke's view, fearing it led to atheism, and proposed that objects exist only when perceived or by being a perceiving entity, suggesting God continuously perceives all things.
Answer: True
George Berkeley, a proponent of subjective idealism, argued against the existence of material substance independent of perception, positing that 'to be is to be perceived' ('esse est percipi'), with God serving as the ultimate perceiver.
Berkeley proposed that the order observed in nature serves as the language or handwriting of God.
Answer: True
Berkeley interpreted the regularity and orderliness of the natural world not as evidence of material substance, but as the consistent communication of God to human minds, akin to a language.
Hume argued that while all knowledge stems from sense experience, this leads to skepticism because beliefs about the world are based on habit and custom derived from past experiences, not absolute rational certainty.
Answer: True
David Hume's rigorous empiricism led him to conclude that our beliefs about causality and the external world are products of psychological habit and custom, rather than demonstrable rational certainty, thus fostering a form of skepticism.
Hume divided human knowledge into 'relations of ideas,' such as mathematical truths, and 'matters of fact,' which are based on contingent observations of the world.
Answer: True
David Hume famously categorized all human knowledge into two distinct types: 'relations of ideas,' which are knowable *a priori* through reason (e.g., geometry, algebra), and 'matters of fact,' which are knowable only *a posteriori* through experience.
Hume defined impressions as direct sensations and ideas as fainter copies of these impressions, formed through memory or imagination.
Answer: True
According to Hume's empiricist epistemology, impressions are the most vivid perceptions (sensations, passions, emotions), while ideas are mere copies of these impressions, possessing less force and vivacity.
Hume concluded that beliefs in an external world and the self are not rationally justifiable but are accepted due to instinct and custom.
Answer: True
Hume argued that our belief in the existence of an external world and the continuity of the self are not grounded in reason or empirical proof but are rather products of natural instinct and habit.
Berkeley argued that matter only exists as a result of being perceived or as a perceiving entity, suggesting God perceives all objects.
Answer: True
George Berkeley's subjective idealism posits that the existence of material objects is contingent upon their being perceived by a mind, with God's continuous perception ensuring their persistence.
Hume identified habit and custom, developed through accumulated sense experiences, as the basis for our beliefs about the natural world, rather than rational certainty.
Answer: True
David Hume posited that our understanding of the natural world, particularly concerning cause and effect, is primarily shaped by habit and custom derived from repeated sensory experiences, rather than by rational deduction.
What is the core idea behind 'subjective idealism' as associated with George Berkeley?
Answer: Reality is fundamentally mental, and objects exist only when perceived.
Berkeley's subjective idealism posits that reality is constituted by minds and their ideas, asserting that objects exist only insofar as they are perceived by a conscious entity.
Francis Bacon first advocated for empiricism in England in which year and through which work?
Answer: 1620, *Novum Organum*
Francis Bacon's seminal work, *Novum Organum*, published in 1620, is recognized as a key text in the advocacy for empiricism in England.
Who are recognized as the key figures of British empiricism during the Enlightenment?
Answer: John Locke, George Berkeley, David Hume
John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume are considered the principal architects of British empiricism during the Enlightenment era.
According to John Locke's *An Essay Concerning Human Understanding*, all human knowledge is derived from:
Answer: Sensory experience and reflection (*a posteriori*).
Locke contended that all human knowledge originates from two sources: sensation (external experience) and reflection (internal mental operations).
Locke differentiated between primary and secondary qualities of objects. Which of the following is an example of a primary quality?
Answer: Shape
Primary qualities, according to Locke, are intrinsic properties of objects such as solidity, extension, figure, motion, and number, which exist independently of our perception.
George Berkeley critiqued Locke's empiricism, fearing it led to atheism, and proposed that objects exist:
Answer: Only when perceived or by being a perceiving entity.
Berkeley's subjective idealism posits that the existence of objects is dependent on their being perceived by a mind; 'to be is to be perceived'.
What did George Berkeley suggest about the order observed in nature?
Answer: It serves as the language or handwriting of God.
Berkeley interpreted the regularity and order found in nature as divine communication, akin to God's language or handwriting.
According to David Hume, our beliefs about the world are primarily based on:
Answer: Habit and custom derived from past experiences.
Hume argued that our beliefs about the world, particularly concerning causality, are founded not on rational certainty but on the psychological force of habit and custom developed through repeated experiences.
David Hume divided human knowledge into two main categories:
Answer: Relations of ideas and matters of fact.
Hume classified all propositions into 'relations of ideas' (knowable through reason alone) and 'matters of fact' (dependent on sensory experience).
According to Hume, what are 'ideas'?
Answer: Fainter copies of impressions, formed by memory or imagination.
Hume distinguished between vivid 'impressions' (direct sensory experiences) and less vivid 'ideas,' which are mental copies of these impressions.
What was George Berkeley's core argument regarding the existence of matter?
Answer: Matter exists only as a result of being perceived or as a perceiving entity.
Berkeley's subjective idealism posits that matter does not exist independently of perception; its existence is contingent upon being perceived by a mind.
What did David Hume identify as the basis for our beliefs about the natural world, if not rational certainty?
Answer: Habit and custom
Hume argued that our beliefs about the natural world are grounded not in rational certainty but in habit and custom, formed through repeated sensory experiences.
What did John Locke identify as the two primary sources from which human ideas are derived?
Answer: Sensation and reflection
Locke identified sensation (external experience) and reflection (internal mental operations) as the two fundamental sources of all human ideas.
The Vaisheshika school of Hindu philosophy, founded by the philosopher Kanada, accepted perception and inference as the only two reliable sources of knowledge.
Answer: True
The Vaisheshika school, an ancient Indian philosophical system, aligns with empiricist principles by recognizing perception (pratyakṣa) and inference (anumāna) as the primary means of acquiring valid knowledge.
The empiric school, founded in 330 BCE, relied on the observation of phenomena ('phantasiai') and rejected the doctrines of the dogmatic school, aligning with proto-empiricist philosophical ideas.
Answer: True
The ancient Greek 'empiric school' of medicine, established around 330 BCE, emphasized empirical observation and practical experience, consciously diverging from theoretical or dogmatic approaches.
Aristotle proposed that the mind thinks based on what is imprinted upon it, akin to letters on a tablet. While not strictly modern empiricism, his ideas emphasized the role of sense perception, summarized by the principle 'nothing in the intellect without first being in the senses.'
Answer: True
Aristotle's epistemological stance, encapsulated in the maxim 'nothing in the intellect without first being in the senses,' highlights the crucial role of sensory input in the formation of knowledge, a principle foundational to later empiricist thought.
Stoic epistemology generally held that the mind begins as a blank slate, acquiring knowledge as external reality impresses itself upon the senses.
Answer: True
Stoic philosophers generally subscribed to an empiricist view of the mind, likening it to a blank tablet ('tabula rasa') upon which sensory experiences leave impressions that form the basis of knowledge.
Avicenna developed the tabula rasa concept into an elaborate theory where the mind, initially a pure potentiality, is actualized through education and empirical familiarity with the world, leading to abstract concepts via reasoning.
Answer: True
The Islamic philosopher Avicenna (Ibn Sina) significantly elaborated on the 'tabula rasa' concept, proposing that the mind, starting as pure potentiality, actualizes its cognitive capacities through interaction with the empirical world and subsequent intellectual abstraction.
Ibn Tufail's Arabic philosophical novel, *Hayy ibn Yaqdhan* (known in Latin as *Philosophus Autodidactus*), presented the theory of tabula rasa through the story of a feral child developing in isolation.
Answer: True
The philosophical novel *Hayy ibn Yaqdhan* by Ibn Tufail served as a compelling thought experiment, illustrating the development of knowledge and reason in a solitary individual, thereby supporting the 'tabula rasa' thesis.
Leonardo da Vinci advocated that personal experience should take precedence over the writings of authorities; if experience contradicts authority, one should abandon the authority and rely on their own findings.
Answer: True
Leonardo da Vinci championed the primacy of empirical observation and personal experience in the acquisition of knowledge, famously stating that if experience contradicts the pronouncements of authorities, one must trust experience.
Bernardino Telesio developed an empirical metaphysical system that greatly influenced later thinkers, including Francis Bacon, who referred to Telesio as 'the first of the moderns.'
Answer: True
Bernardino Telesio's empirical approach to metaphysics significantly impacted subsequent philosophical discourse, notably influencing Francis Bacon, who recognized Telesio's foundational role in shifting philosophical inquiry towards empirical methods.
Vincenzo Galilei used the empirical method to solve musical problems, particularly concerning tuning and the relationship between physical properties of instruments and pitch, influencing his son Galileo's empirical approach.
Answer: True
Vincenzo Galilei applied empirical investigation to musical theory and practice, notably in acoustics and tuning, thereby contributing to the broader development of empirical methodology that influenced his son, Galileo.
Aristotle's principle 'nothing in the intellect without first being in the senses' implies that abstract thought precedes sensory input.
Answer: False
The Aristotelian principle 'nothing in the intellect without first being in the senses' signifies that sensory input is a prerequisite for intellectual knowledge, not that abstract thought precedes sensory experience.
What did the 'empiric school' of ancient Greek medical practitioners reject?
Answer: The doctrines of the dogmatic school.
The ancient Greek empiric school of medicine distinguished itself by prioritizing direct observation and experience over theoretical doctrines or established dogma.
How did the Islamic philosophers Al Farabi and Avicenna contribute to the development of empiricist thought?
Answer: By developing Aristotle's ideas on the mind's acquisition of knowledge through experience.
Philosophers like Al Farabi and Avicenna engaged with and expanded upon Aristotelian principles concerning the role of sensory experience in the formation of knowledge, contributing significantly to the intellectual lineage leading to modern empiricism.
Which ancient Indian school of philosophy, founded by Kanada, recognized perception and inference as primary sources of knowledge?
Answer: Vaisheshika
The Vaisheshika school, established by the philosopher Kanada, identified perception and inference as the principal means of acquiring valid knowledge, aligning with empiricist epistemological tenets.
The ancient Greek 'empiric school' of medical practitioners, founded in 330 BCE, primarily relied on:
Answer: The observation of phenomena ('phantasiai').
The ancient Greek empiric school of medicine emphasized the direct observation of phenomena and practical experience as the basis for medical knowledge, distinguishing itself from theoretical approaches.
Aristotle's principle, 'nothing in the intellect without first being in the senses,' suggests that:
Answer: All knowledge acquired by the intellect originates from sensory experiences.
This Aristotelian maxim underscores the view that sensory input is the indispensable foundation upon which all intellectual knowledge is built.
How did Avicenna (Ibn Sina) elaborate on the tabula rasa concept?
Answer: By proposing the mind, initially potential, is actualized through education and empirical familiarity.
Avicenna posited that the mind, starting as pure potentiality, develops and actualizes its cognitive capacities through learning and engagement with the empirical world.
Which of the following figures advocated that personal experience should take precedence over the writings of authorities in acquiring knowledge?
Answer: Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci emphasized the paramount importance of personal experience and observation in the pursuit of knowledge, advocating for its precedence over established authorities.
Bernardino Telesio significantly influenced Francis Bacon by developing what kind of system?
Answer: An empirical metaphysical system.
Bernardino Telesio's work in developing an empirical metaphysical system profoundly influenced Francis Bacon, marking a significant shift towards empirical inquiry in philosophy.
What did Aristotle mean by the principle 'nothing in the intellect without first being in the senses'?
Answer: Sensory input is necessary for intellectual knowledge.
This Aristotelian maxim asserts that all knowledge processed by the intellect must originate from sensory experiences.
What did the Stoics generally hold about the initial state of the human mind?
Answer: It was like a blank sheet of paper, ready to be written upon by experiences.
Stoic epistemology generally viewed the mind at birth as a blank slate, acquiring knowledge through the impressions made by sensory experiences.
Mill extended empiricism by arguing that induction is necessary for all knowledge, including mathematics, which he viewed as highly confirmed generalizations from experience, rather than purely deductive truths.
Answer: True
John Stuart Mill controversially argued that even mathematical truths are ultimately derived from and confirmed by experience, challenging the traditional view of mathematics as purely *a priori*.
Phenomenalism concluded because it proved impossible to translate statements about physical objects into finite statements about sense-data, and attempts to define observer normality led to an infinite regress.
Answer: True
The philosophical project of phenomenalism largely waned by the mid-20th century due to inherent logical difficulties, including the failure to adequately translate statements about physical objects into statements about sense-data and the problem of defining 'observer normality'.
Logical empiricism sought to combine the empiricist emphasis on sensory experience with insights from mathematical logic, aiming to clarify scientific concepts and eliminate metaphysical pseudoproblems.
Answer: True
Logical empiricism, emerging from the Vienna Circle, aimed to establish a rigorous foundation for scientific knowledge by integrating empirical verification with the precision of modern logic, thereby seeking to dissolve or eliminate metaphysical claims.
The verification principle stated that meaningful statements must be either logically true or empirically verifiable.
Answer: True
The 'verification principle,' a cornerstone of logical empiricism, stipulated that a statement possesses cognitive meaning only if it is either analytic (true by definition) or empirically verifiable through observation.
Carnap and Neurath shifted from phenomenalism to reconstructing knowledge in the language of objective spatio-temporal physics, using 'protocol sentences' to describe observations.
Answer: True
Prominent logical empiricists like Rudolf Carnap and Otto Neurath advocated for a physicalist language for science, moving away from subjective phenomenalism towards a framework based on objective, publicly verifiable physical events.
Thinkers such as Nelson Goodman, W. V. Quine, Hilary Putnam, Karl Popper, and Richard Rorty significantly criticized the central theses of logical positivism.
Answer: True
The foundational principles of logical positivism, including the verification principle and the strict analytic-synthetic distinction, faced substantial critiques from influential philosophers such as Quine and Goodman, leading to revisions and alternative philosophical frameworks.
Pragmatism's ideas primarily developed from discussions between Charles Sanders Peirce and William James at Harvard in the 1870s.
Answer: True
The philosophical movement of pragmatism originated from intellectual exchanges between Charles Sanders Peirce and William James during their time at Harvard University in the latter half of the 19th century.
Peirce established a framework for the scientific method by integrating inductive and deductive reasoning and introducing abductive reasoning, viewing scientific conclusions as tentative and self-corrective.
Answer: True
Charles Peirce made significant contributions to the philosophy of science by articulating a comprehensive model of scientific inquiry that incorporated inductive, deductive, and particularly abductive reasoning, emphasizing the provisional and self-correcting nature of scientific knowledge.
Peirce's fallibilism asserts that scientific conclusions are always provisional and that the rationality of science lies in its capacity for self-correction rather than absolute certainty.
Answer: True
Charles Peirce's doctrine of fallibilism posits that all knowledge, including scientific knowledge, is inherently uncertain and subject to revision, emphasizing the importance of continuous inquiry and self-correction.
William James's 'radical empiricism' proposed that the directly perceived universe requires no external, trans-empirical support, effectively rejecting supernatural explanations for natural phenomena.
Answer: True
James's concept of 'radical empiricism' advocated for a broader understanding of experience, asserting that the perceived world is self-sufficient and does not necessitate recourse to supernatural or transcendent explanations.
In Dewey's instrumentalism, ideas function as instruments for future experimentation and adaptation, guiding human interaction with reality based on past experiences.
Answer: True
John Dewey's instrumentalism views ideas and theories not as representations of fixed reality, but as tools or instruments that guide action and problem-solving, evaluated by their practical consequences and efficacy in future experience.
The verification principle was criticized for being too restrictive, leading to the dismissal of many meaningful statements (like ethical or metaphysical ones) as nonsensical because they could not be empirically verified.
Answer: True
A significant criticism leveled against the verification principle was its excessive restrictiveness, as it tended to exclude vast domains of discourse, including ethics and metaphysics, from meaningful philosophical inquiry.
How did Charles Peirce integrate different forms of reasoning into his view of the scientific method?
Answer: By integrating inductive, deductive, and abductive reasoning.
Peirce conceptualized the scientific method as a synergistic process involving inductive, deductive, and abductive reasoning, each playing a distinct yet complementary role in the advancement of knowledge.
What did William James mean by 'radical empiricism' in relation to supernatural explanations?
Answer: It rejected supernatural explanations, finding the perceived universe self-sufficient.
James's 'radical empiricism' posited that the experienced world is complete in itself and does not require external, trans-empirical validation, thereby challenging the necessity of supernatural explanations.
John Stuart Mill extended empiricism by arguing that mathematics:
Answer: Is a highly confirmed generalization from experience.
Mill controversially proposed that mathematical truths, like other knowledge, are ultimately derived from and confirmed by experience, functioning as highly generalized empirical laws.
Why did the phase of phenomenalism in empiricism largely conclude by the 1940s?
Answer: It proved impossible to translate statements about physical objects into finite statements about sense-data.
Phenomenalism faced significant challenges, notably the failure to adequately translate statements about physical objects into statements about sense-data, contributing to its decline by the mid-20th century.
What was the primary goal of logical empiricism in the early 20th century?
Answer: To combine empiricism with mathematical logic to clarify scientific concepts.
Logical empiricism aimed to synthesize the empirical tradition with the rigor of modern logic to achieve clarity in scientific concepts and to demarcate meaningful scientific discourse from metaphysical speculation.
The 'verification principle,' central to logical empiricism, stated that meaningful statements must be:
Answer: Logically true or empirically verifiable.
The verification principle posited that a statement is cognitively meaningful if and only if it is either analytic (true by definition) or empirically verifiable.
Which of the following philosophers is noted for criticizing the core tenets of logical positivism?
Answer: W. V. Quine
W. V. Quine, among others, launched significant critiques against key principles of logical positivism, such as the analytic-synthetic distinction and the verification principle.
Pragmatism's ideas primarily developed from discussions between Charles Sanders Peirce and William James at which university?
Answer: Harvard University
The intellectual milieu at Harvard University provided the setting for the formative discussions between Charles Sanders Peirce and William James that led to the development of pragmatism.
Charles Peirce contributed to the foundation of the modern scientific method by integrating inductive, deductive, and which other type of reasoning?
Answer: Abductive
Peirce's influential model of scientific reasoning incorporates inductive, deductive, and abductive (hypothetical) reasoning as essential components.
What did Peirce's doctrine of fallibilism state about scientific conclusions?
Answer: They are provisional and subject to self-correction.
Fallibilism, as articulated by Peirce, asserts that all knowledge claims, including scientific ones, are provisional and open to revision or correction.
James's 'radical empiricism' proposed that the directly perceived universe:
Answer: Needs no external, trans-empirical support.
Radical empiricism posits that the experienced world is complete in itself and does not require external, non-empirical validation.
In John Dewey's theory of instrumentalism, ideas function as:
Answer: Instruments for future experimentation and adaptation.
Dewey's instrumentalism views ideas as practical tools or instruments that guide inquiry and problem-solving, evaluated by their effectiveness in experience.
What was the main criticism of logical positivism's 'verification principle'?
Answer: It was too restrictive, dismissing many meaningful statements as nonsensical.
The verification principle faced criticism for being overly restrictive, as it excluded many statements considered meaningful (e.g., ethical, aesthetic, metaphysical) from the realm of cognitive significance.
What was the main goal of logical empiricism concerning metaphysical problems?
Answer: To eliminate them as meaningless pseudoproblems.
Logical empiricists aimed to dissolve or eliminate metaphysical claims by demonstrating their lack of empirical or logical verification, thereby rendering them cognitively meaningless.
According to Charles Peirce's doctrine of fallibilism, scientific conclusions are characterized by being:
Answer: Provisional and self-correcting.
Peirce's fallibilism posits that all scientific conclusions are inherently uncertain and subject to revision, emphasizing the process of self-correction as central to scientific rationality.
The English term 'empirical' originates from the Ancient Greek word 'empeiria,' which is related to the Latin 'experientia,' the root of the words 'experience' and 'experiment.'
Answer: True
The etymological lineage of 'empirical' traces back through Latin 'experientia' to the Greek 'empeiria,' both signifying 'experience,' underscoring the foundational role of experience in this epistemological approach.
The concept of tabula rasa, meaning 'blank slate' or 'blank tablet,' is historically associated with empiricism, suggesting the human mind begins without innate ideas and develops through experience.
Answer: True
The concept of 'tabula rasa,' famously articulated by empiricist philosophers, posits that the mind at birth is devoid of innate concepts or knowledge, acquiring all content through sensory input and subsequent cognitive processing.
Hume's problem of induction highlights that justifying the principle of induction (assuming the future will resemble the past) requires inductive reasoning itself, creating a circular argument and undermining certainty about future events.
Answer: True
David Hume's critique of induction points out that the assumption that past regularities will continue into the future cannot be justified by deductive logic; any justification must rely on past experience, leading to a circular argument.
Phenomenalism posits that physical objects are essentially constructions of our experiences, defining matter as the 'permanent possibility of sensation.'
Answer: True
Phenomenalism, an extreme form of empiricism, asserts that physical objects are reducible to bundles of sense-data or, as articulated by John Stuart Mill, the 'permanent possibility of sensation.'
Criticisms included difficulties in defining experience beyond sensations, unanswered questions about the existence of 'permanent possibilities of sensation,' and the mischaracterization of mathematics as inductive rather than deductive reasoning.
Answer: True
John Stuart Mill's empiricist framework faced significant criticism, particularly regarding the ontological status of 'permanent possibilities of sensation' and his controversial assertion that mathematics is inductive.
Mill used this phrase 'permanent possibility of sensation' to define abstract reasoning.
Answer: False
John Stuart Mill employed the phrase 'permanent possibility of sensation' not to define abstract reasoning, but rather as his definition of matter within his phenomenalist framework.
What is David Hume's 'problem of induction'?
Answer: The circularity in justifying the assumption that the future will resemble the past.
Hume's problem of induction questions the rational basis for assuming that future events will conform to past patterns, as such an assumption relies on inductive reasoning itself, creating a logical circularity.
The concept of 'tabula rasa,' historically associated with empiricism, describes the mind at birth as:
Answer: A blank slate or blank tablet, without innate ideas.
The 'tabula rasa' concept posits that the human mind begins without any innate ideas or knowledge, functioning as a blank slate upon which experience writes.
What is David Hume's 'problem of induction'?
Answer: The circular argument used to justify the assumption that the future will resemble the past.
Hume's problem of induction questions the rational justification for assuming that future events will mirror past occurrences, as this assumption relies on circular reasoning.
Phenomenalism, an extreme empiricist theory, defines physical objects as:
Answer: Constructions of our experiences, or the 'permanent possibility of sensation.'
Phenomenalism posits that physical objects are essentially reducible to or constituted by our sensory experiences, often characterized as the 'permanent possibility of sensation'.
What was the primary criticism leveled against John Stuart Mill's empiricist formulation regarding mathematics?
Answer: He mischaracterized it as inductive rather than deductive reasoning.
A significant criticism of Mill's view was his assertion that mathematics, typically considered deductive, was instead a form of inductive reasoning derived from experience.