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Wilfrid Sellars was born in the United States and died in Canada.
Answer: False
Biographical data indicates Wilfrid Sellars was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, and passed away in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Therefore, the assertion of his death in Canada is factually inaccurate.
Wilfrid Sellars is primarily recognized for his contributions to analytic philosophy, rather than existentialism and phenomenology.
Answer: True
While Sellars engaged with various philosophical traditions, his primary renown stems from his work within analytic philosophy, particularly his critiques of empiricism and his development of concepts like the 'Myth of the Given' and the 'space of reasons'.
Wilfrid Sellars completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan and later earned a Master's degree from Oxford.
Answer: False
Sellars earned his B.A. from the University of Michigan, an M.A. from the University at Buffalo, and another M.A. from Oriel College, Oxford. He did not earn his Master's degree from Oxford after his undergraduate studies at Michigan.
During World War II, Wilfrid Sellars served in the Navy.
Answer: False
Sources indicate that Wilfrid Sellars served in military intelligence during World War II, not in the Navy.
Wilfrid Sellars held teaching positions at Yale University and the University of Pittsburgh.
Answer: True
Sellars held academic appointments at several institutions, including Yale University and, significantly, the University of Pittsburgh where he taught from 1963 until his death.
Wilfrid Sellars was the founding president of the American Philosophical Association.
Answer: False
While Sellars was a prominent figure in American philosophy, he was not the founding president of the American Philosophical Association. He did, however, serve as president of the Metaphysical Society of America in 1977.
Sellars was instrumental in founding the academic journal *Synthese*.
Answer: False
The source material indicates that Sellars was a co-founder of the journal *Philosophical Studies*, not *Synthese*.
Wilfrid Sellars maintained a politically neutral stance throughout his life.
Answer: False
Influenced by his socialist father, Wilfrid Sellars was involved in left-wing politics during his youth, including co-founding a student cooperative and campaigning for socialist candidates. He did not maintain a politically neutral stance.
Wilfrid Sellars died from complications related to pneumonia.
Answer: False
The provided information states that Wilfrid Sellars died in 1989 as a result of long-term alcohol use, not pneumonia.
What was Wilfrid Sellars's full name and lifespan?
Answer: Wilfrid Stalker Sellars, 1912-1989
Wilfrid Sellars's full name was Wilfrid Stalker Sellars. His lifespan extended from May 20, 1912, to July 2, 1989.
Which of the following is NOT listed as a major area of Sellars's philosophical contributions?
Answer: Ethics
The corpus of Sellars's work, as presented, extensively covers Philosophy of Mind, Metaphysics, and Philosophy of Language. Ethics is notably absent from the list of his major areas of philosophical contribution.
Which Oxford college was Sellars affiliated with as a Rhodes Scholar?
Answer: Oriel College
Wilfrid Sellars pursued his studies at Oriel College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, subsequently earning an M.A. degree from the institution.
What was Wilfrid Sellars's specific role during World War II?
Answer: Military intelligence officer
During World War II, Wilfrid Sellars served in the capacity of a military intelligence officer.
Which of these universities was NOT a place where Sellars taught?
Answer: University of Chicago
Sellars held teaching positions at the University of Iowa, Yale University, and the University of Pittsburgh. The University of Chicago is not listed among his academic appointments.
In which professional society did Wilfrid Sellars serve as president in 1977?
Answer: The Metaphysical Society of America
In 1977, Wilfrid Sellars held the position of president for the Metaphysical Society of America.
Wilfrid Sellars was a co-founder of which academic journal?
Answer: Philosophical Studies
Wilfrid Sellars was among the founding members of the academic journal *Philosophical Studies*.
What political affiliation influenced Wilfrid Sellars's youth?
Answer: Socialism
Influenced by his father, Wilfrid Sellars exhibited socialist leanings in his youth, participating in left-wing political activities and organizations.
What was the stated cause of Wilfrid Sellars's death?
Answer: Long-term alcohol use
The information provided indicates that Wilfrid Sellars's death in 1989 was attributed to the consequences of long-term alcohol use.
Sellars's major philosophical contributions include his critique of foundationalism, his pursuit of a synoptic philosophy, and his inferential theory of meaning.
Answer: True
The foundational texts identify Sellars's principal contributions as his trenchant critique of foundationalist epistemology, encapsulated in the concept of the 'Myth of the Given'; his pursuit of a synoptic philosophy designed to harmonize the manifest and scientific perspectives on reality; and his development of an inferentialist account of meaning.
The 'space of reasons' refers to the philosophical concept that all knowledge is ultimately reducible to physical explanations.
Answer: False
The concept of the 'space of reasons,' as articulated by Sellars, denotes the framework of language and conceptual norms that underpins rational discourse and intentional action. It is fundamentally distinct from, and not reducible to, purely causal explanations characteristic of the physical sciences.
Sellars's primary philosophical objective was to reconcile common sense and traditional philosophy with a scientific worldview.
Answer: True
Sellars's overarching philosophical goal was indeed to achieve a synoptic vision that integrated the common-sense understanding of the world (the manifest image) with a comprehensive scientific account (the scientific image), thereby reconciling traditional philosophical concepts with a naturalist perspective.
The 'Myth of the Given' is Sellars's term for the idea that scientific theories should always take precedence over common-sense understanding.
Answer: False
The 'Myth of the Given' is Sellars's critique of foundationalist epistemology, specifically the notion that knowledge can be grounded in immediate, non-conceptual sensory experience. It does not primarily concern the precedence of scientific theories over common sense.
The 'manifest image' in Sellars's philosophy refers to the world as described by theoretical physics.
Answer: False
In Sellars's dichotomy, the 'manifest image' represents the common-sense, intentional, and appearance-based view of the world, whereas the 'scientific image' describes the world in terms of theoretical physics and empirical sciences.
Sellars believed the scientific image of the world was fundamentally incompatible with the manifest image, requiring the abandonment of common sense.
Answer: False
Sellars did not view the scientific and manifest images as fundamentally incompatible. Rather, he sought a synoptic vision to reconcile them, acknowledging potential conflicts but aiming for an integrated understanding rather than the abandonment of common sense.
Sellars's quote about the aim of philosophy emphasizes understanding how 'everything hangs together.'
Answer: True
Sellars famously articulated the aim of philosophy, in abstract terms, as 'to understand how things, in the broadest possible sense of the term, hang together, in the broadest possible sense of the term,' highlighting the pursuit of a unified and comprehensive understanding.
Sellars's critique of the 'Myth of the Given' targeted thinkers like Gilbert Ryle and Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Answer: False
Sellars's critique of the 'Myth of the Given' primarily targeted foundationalist epistemologies, particularly sense-data theories, associated with thinkers such as C. I. Lewis and Rudolf Carnap. Gilbert Ryle and Ludwig Wittgenstein are generally associated with different critiques of foundationalism.
The 'synoptic vision' pursued by Sellars aimed to integrate the manifest and scientific images of the world.
Answer: True
Sellars's concept of the 'synoptic vision' referred to his philosophical project of achieving a unified understanding of reality by reconciling the common-sense 'manifest image' with the objective, theoretical 'scientific image'.
What concept did Sellars famously coin to critique foundationalist epistemology?
Answer: The Myth of the Given
Sellars critically examined foundationalist epistemologies, coining the term 'The Myth of the Given' to denote the erroneous assumption that knowledge can be based upon immediate, non-conceptual sensory experience.
What does Sellars mean by the 'space of reasons'?
Answer: The conceptual and behavioral web of language enabling intelligent action, distinct from mere causal explanation.
The 'space of reasons,' as conceptualized by Sellars, refers to the linguistic and conceptual framework that facilitates intelligent action and justification, differentiating it from purely causal explanations found in the natural sciences.
Sellars's overarching philosophical goal was to:
Answer: Reconcile common-sense understanding with a scientific account of reality.
Sellars dedicated his philosophical efforts to reconciling the intuitive, common-sense perspective on the world (the manifest image) with the objective, empirical framework provided by the sciences (the scientific image).
Sellars's critique known as 'The Myth of the Given' primarily targeted which philosophical view?
Answer: Foundationalist epistemology relying on sense-data.
The 'Myth of the Given' represents Sellars's critique of foundationalist epistemology, specifically challenging the notion that knowledge can be secured through immediate, unmediated sensory experiences or sense-data.
What distinction did Sellars introduce in his 1962 paper 'Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man'?
Answer: The manifest image vs. the scientific image
In his seminal 1962 paper, 'Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man,' Sellars introduced the influential distinction between the 'manifest image' and the 'scientific image' of the world.
Which description best fits Sellars's 'manifest image'?
Answer: Our everyday, common-sense understanding of the world and human experience.
The 'manifest image,' as conceptualized by Sellars, encompasses the ordinary, intuitive, and appearance-based understanding of the world, including concepts like intentions and thoughts, as experienced in everyday life.
How did Sellars primarily view the relationship between the manifest and scientific images?
Answer: They sometimes conflicted, but he sought a unified vision integrating both.
Sellars perceived potential conflicts between the manifest and scientific images but advocated for a synoptic philosophical project aimed at integrating them into a coherent, unified worldview, often prioritizing the scientific image in empirical matters.
What is 'Kantian empiricism' as defined by Sellars?
Answer: A distinction between framework-relative truths and observation-revisable truths.
Sellars conceptualized 'Kantian empiricism' as a framework distinguishing between truths that are relative to a conceptual system (framework-relative *a priori*) and truths that are revisable based on empirical observation within a stable system.
What is the philosophical significance of Sellars's quote: '...to understand how things... hang together, in the broadest possible sense of the term...'?
Answer: It describes the goal of philosophy as achieving a unified understanding of reality.
This famous quote encapsulates Sellars's view of philosophy's ultimate aim: to achieve a comprehensive and unified understanding of reality in its entirety, integrating all domains of knowledge and experience.
Sellars used the 'Myth of Jones' parable to illustrate how thoughts and subjective experiences could be explained within a behaviorist framework.
Answer: True
The 'Myth of Jones' was a thought experiment Sellars employed to demonstrate how concepts such as thoughts and intentionality could, in principle, be accounted for within a scientific, potentially behaviorist, framework.
Sellars's 1974 paper 'Meaning as Functional Classification' proposed a theory where meaning is derived from inferential roles.
Answer: True
In his 1974 paper 'Meaning as Functional Classification,' Sellars elaborated on a theory of meaning grounded in inferential roles, positing that the meaning of linguistic expressions and concepts is determined by their relationships within a broader system of inference.
Psychological nominalism is a concept Sellars developed concerning the nature of mental states.
Answer: True
Psychological nominalism is identified as one of the notable philosophical ideas developed by Wilfrid Sellars, pertaining to the conceptualization of psychological states and phenomena.
What was the function of the 'Myth of Jones' parable?
Answer: To show how thoughts could be explained within a scientific/behaviorist model.
The 'Myth of Jones' parable served Sellars as a conceptual tool to illustrate how mental states, such as thoughts, could be coherently explained within a scientific framework, potentially aligning with behaviorist principles.
Sellars's theory of meaning, elaborated in 'Meaning as Functional Classification,' is best described as:
Answer: Inferential role semantics (functional role semantics)
Sellars's work in 'Meaning as Functional Classification' advances a theory of meaning where semantic content is determined by a term's inferential role—its relationships within a system of linguistic and conceptual connections.
What is 'inferentialism' in Sellars's philosophy?
Answer: A theory where meaning is determined by a word's inferential role within a system.
Inferentialism, as developed by Sellars, posits that the meaning of linguistic expressions and concepts is constituted by their inferential relationships—how they connect with other expressions and concepts within a language or conceptual system.
Wilfrid Sellars's most famous publication is the 1956 work 'Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind'.
Answer: True
The source material explicitly identifies 'Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind,' published in 1956, as Wilfrid Sellars's most renowned and influential work.
In 'Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind,' Sellars primarily critiqued the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Answer: False
In 'Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind,' Sellars primarily critiqued foundationalist epistemologies associated with thinkers like C. I. Lewis and Rudolf Carnap, rather than Ludwig Wittgenstein.
The 1963 book *Science, Perception and Reality* contains a comprehensive bibliography of Sellars's works.
Answer: True
The 1991 reissue of Sellars's 1963 work, *Science, Perception and Reality*, is noted for containing a comprehensive bibliography of his published writings up to 1989.
Sellars's 1968 book *Science and Metaphysics* is based on lectures delivered at Harvard University.
Answer: False
Sellars's 1968 book, *Science and Metaphysics: Variations on Kantian Themes*, is based on the John Locke Lectures delivered at Oxford University, not lectures at Harvard.
What is the title and publication year of Wilfrid Sellars's most famous work?
Answer: Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind, 1956
Wilfrid Sellars's most renowned publication is widely recognized as 'Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind,' first published in 1956.
In 'Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind,' Sellars specifically critiqued theories associated with which thinkers?
Answer: C. I. Lewis and Rudolf Carnap
Within 'Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind,' Sellars directed his critique towards foundationalist epistemological theories, particularly those advanced by C. I. Lewis and Rudolf Carnap, which relied heavily on sense-data.
The book *Science and Metaphysics: Variations on Kantian Themes* is based on which lectures?
Answer: The John Locke Lectures
Sellars's 1968 book, *Science and Metaphysics: Variations on Kantian Themes*, is derived from the prestigious John Locke Lectures he delivered at Oxford University in 1966.
Roy Wood Sellars, Wilfrid Sellars's father, was a proponent of logical positivism.
Answer: False
Roy Wood Sellars, Wilfrid's father, was a prominent philosopher in his own right, known as a leading proponent of philosophical naturalism, not logical positivism.
Sellars's work synthesized elements from existentialism, Marxism, and phenomenology.
Answer: False
While Sellars engaged with a broad range of philosophical traditions, the provided text indicates his synthesis primarily involved American pragmatism, analytic philosophy, and logical positivism, along with significant engagement with German idealism. Existentialism and Marxism are not listed as synthesized elements.
Robert Brandom considered Sellars and W. V. O. Quine to be insignificant figures in 20th-century philosophy.
Answer: False
Robert Brandom held Sellars and W. V. O. Quine in extremely high regard, considering them to be the two most profound and significant philosophers of their generation.
The 'Pittsburgh School' of philosophy is associated with John McDowell and is primarily focused on existentialism.
Answer: False
The Pittsburgh School, founded on Sellars's work, is associated with philosophers like John McDowell and Robert Brandom, and is characterized by its pursuit of a synoptic philosophy integrating manifest and scientific views, not primarily existentialism.
Analytic Hegelianism, linked to the Pittsburgh School, attempts to integrate Hegelian concepts into analytic philosophy.
Answer: True
Analytic Hegelianism represents a philosophical current, often associated with the Pittsburgh School and building upon Sellars's legacy, that seeks to synthesize Hegelian philosophical concepts within the framework of analytic philosophy.
Richard Rorty and Daniel Dennett are among the philosophers influenced by Sellars.
Answer: True
The intellectual lineage stemming from Sellars includes prominent figures such as Richard Rorty and Daniel Dennett, who engaged with and were influenced by his philosophical ideas.
According to the text, what was Wilfrid Sellars's primary impact on philosophy in the United States?
Answer: He revolutionized analytic philosophy in terms of content and method.
The provided documentation posits that Wilfrid Sellars exerted a transformative influence upon philosophical discourse in the United States, fundamentally altering both the substantive content and methodological approaches within analytic philosophy during the latter half of the twentieth century.
Who was Wilfrid Sellars's father, and what was his philosophical stance?
Answer: Roy Wood Sellars, a leading proponent of philosophical naturalism.
Wilfrid Sellars's father was Roy Wood Sellars, himself a notable philosopher recognized as a leading proponent of philosophical naturalism during the early to mid-twentieth century.
Which philosophical traditions did Sellars NOT synthesize in his work, according to the text?
Answer: Existentialism
The synthesis presented in Sellars's work primarily involved American pragmatism, analytic philosophy, and logical positivism, alongside engagement with German idealism. Existentialism is not identified as a synthesized tradition.
Robert Brandom considered Sellars and which other philosopher to be the most important of their generation?
Answer: W. V. O. Quine
Robert Brandom identified Wilfrid Sellars and W. V. O. Quine as the two most profound and significant philosophers of their generation.
The 'Pittsburgh School' is founded on Sellars's goal of:
Answer: Unifying the everyday (manifest) and scientific views of reality.
The philosophical movement known as the Pittsburgh School is fundamentally rooted in Wilfrid Sellars's objective to achieve a synoptic philosophy that integrates the common-sense 'manifest image' with the scientific understanding of the world.
Which of the following is NOT listed as a philosopher influenced by Sellars?
Answer: Saul Kripke
While prominent philosophers such as John McDowell, Fred Dretske, and Richard Rorty are noted as being influenced by Sellars, Saul Kripke is not explicitly mentioned in this context within the provided text.