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CHAPTER 9
THE RATIONALIST: RENÉ DESCARTES
INSTRUCTIONS: Select the best answer according to the text.
TRUE/FALSE
1. Descartes was educated by the Jesuits.
2. Descartes s philosophy was inspired by a series of dreams.
3. Most philosophers agree that modern philosophy began
with Descartes.
4. Al-Ghazali transcended rationalism.
5. Innate ideas are truths that are not derived from
observation or experiment.
6. Rationalists rely on the correspondence theory of truth.
7. Descartes cautioned against relying too much on
authoritarian thinking.
8. Descartes insisted that we reject efforts to understand the
world with mathematical precision.
9. Descartes placed much weight on common sense.
10. Descartes wrote for a specialized elite group of
university-based scholars.
11. A priori ideas are derived from experience.
12. A posteriori knowledge is empirical knowledge.
13. Descartes rejected sense knowledge as a sufficient
foundation for certainty.
14. Descartes argued that the idea of God is acquired
from experience.
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15. Descartes constructed an ontological argument aimed at
supporting the possibility of the existence of an evil genius.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
16. Descartes made a radical proposal: _____ .
a. Pretend we are dead and see if we still believe in
God
b. Assume that all of our beliefs are true and live
accordingly
c. Assume that all of our beliefs are false and see what
happens
d. Throw out everything we know, and build a system
of knowledge based on careful application of a
rational method
17. According to Descartes, _____ are truths that are not
derived from observation or experiment.
a. innate ideas
b. implicit ideas
c. a posteriori ideas
d. common sense principles
18. The _____ theory of truth is the truth test in which new or
unclear ideas are evaluated in terms of rational
consistency and in relation to already established truths.
a. universal
b. correspondence
c. coherence
d. harmonious
19. Descartes held that true ideas are _____ and _____ .
a. universal/common
b. clear/universal
c. innate/empirical
d. clear/distinct
20. Descartes thought that _____ is essential for finding the
truth.
a. science
b. luck
c. method
d. community
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21. Descartes attacked earlier philosophy on the grounds
that it _____ .
a. did not demand rational comprehension from the
individual intellect
b. placed too much emphasis on reason and not
enough on experience
c. failed to distinguish a priori from innate ideas
d. emphasized the individual intellect so much that it
lost sight of the need for authoritarian thinking
22. In order to reach his target audience, Descartes wrote
in _____ .
a. Latin, the universal language of scholars
b. everyday French
c. scholastic French
d. Pig Latin
23. The work of _____ anticipated Descartes s Meditations
by five hundred years.
a. Aristotle
b. Thomas Aquinas
c. Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali
d. Martin Luther
24. _____ is the name of the Cartesian strategy of deliberately
doubting everything it is possible to doubt in the least
degree and accepting as true only what can be known
with absolute certainty.
a. Cartesian genesis
b. Skeptical inquiry
c. Methodic doubt
d. Suspension of belief
25. Descartes s standard of truth rests on _____ .
a. transcending reason and relying on faith
b. his insistence that all ideas recognized clearly and
distinctly are true
c. a combination of empirical evidence and divine
revelation
d. the validation of a posteriori truths
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26. All triangles have 180 degrees is an example of _____
knowledge.
a. a priori
b. a posteriori
c. empirical
d. methodic
27. My shirt is white is an example of _____ knowledge.
a. a priori
b. a posteriori
c. empirical
d. methodic
28. Descartes begins his Meditations by seeing if it is possible
to _____ .
a. know everything
b. believe anything
c. doubt everything
d. doubt anything
29. In the Mediations, Descartes rejects the reliability of sense
knowledge by pointing out that _____ .
a. some people are color blind without being aware
of it
b. this whole world might be a dream
c. the worm is unaware that it is destined to be a
butterfly
d. religious disputes cannot be settled by facts
30. Descartes introduces _____ as a device to raise the
possibility of ultimate delusion.
a. the evil genius
b. a story about original sin
c. a posteriori ideas
d. the cogito
31. Cogito, ergo sum is Latin for _____ .
a. whatever we think is true is true
b. I think, therefore I am
c. I doubt, therefore I may be wrong
d. what can be seen clearly is true
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32. Descartes discovered one absolutely undoubtable truth:
a. He exists when he thinks.
b. I exist, therefore I think.
c. I think, therefore I exist.
d. Reason is the ultimate source of knowledge.
33. Descartes thought that the idea of _____ is qualitatively unique.
a. God
b. truth
c. cause and effect
d. beauty
34. A(n) _____ argument attempts to prove God s existence
by referring to the meaning of the word God when it is
clearly understood.
a. a priori
b. cosmological
c. ontological
d. grammatical
35. Descartes argued that only the existence of God could
account for his having the idea of _____ .
a. God
b. goodness
c. truth
d. perfection
36. _____ is the belief that everything is composed of matter
and energy and can be explained by physical laws.
a. Science
b. Rationalism
c. Materialism
d. Ontology
37. According to the _____ , the body is a fleshy machine.
a. dualists
b. monists
c. Cartesians
d. materialists
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38. _____ is the term for any philosophical position that
divides existence into two distinct substances.
a. Dualism
b. Monism
c. Pluralism
d. Bilateralism
39. Gilbert Ryle refers to _____ as the official doctrine.
a. Christianity
b. dualism
c. monism
d. pluralism
40. Descartes characterized the mind and body _____ .
a. as a whole
b. with a car driver analogy
c. as two arms on one trunk
d. joined as the sun to its orbit
41. The modern era is grounded in Cartesian _____ .
a. pluralism
b. self-consciousness
c. agnosticism
d. monism
42. Cartesian dualism generates the _____ problem.
a. mind body
b. doubt belief
c. God evil genius
d. rational emotive
43. Which of the following is NOT another name for
materialism?
a. behaviorism
b. reductionism
c. pluralism
d. mechanism
44. Descartes claimed that even an evil genius could not
create the idea of _____ .
a. God
b. an external body
c. truth
d. innate truths
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45. According to Susan Bordo, Cartesian modernity _____ .
a. laid a foundation for democracy and equality that
has been overlooked by feminist philosophers
b. is inherently linked to slavery, sexism, and
religious fundamentalism
c. is inherently linked to the repression of nature and
women
d. is inherently linked to the repression of reason and
equality
46. Ancient Greek philosophy ultimately favored _____
knowing over _____ knowing.
a. subjective/objective
b. objective/analytic
c. objective, analytic/subjective, involved
d. philosophical/scientific
47. According to Susan Bordo, modernity rests on _____ .
a. the possibility of objectivity
b. the impossibility of objectivity
c. a need for meaningful subjectivity
d. Freud s theory of the unconscious
48. According to Susan Bordo, the modern vision of the
universe is a picture of a(n) _____ .
a. organic whole
b. organic mechanism
c. complex machine
d. interconnected organism
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Chapter 9
THE RATIONALIST: RENÉ DESCARTES
1. What is the Method of Doubt? Give a brief summary of its
function in terms of Descartes s overall effort to discover certain
knowledge.
2. In your own words, identify Descartes s four precepts, or
necessary rules, for clear thinking. Then apply them to a problem of
your own choosing. *
3. Descartes asserted that whatever we recognize clearly and
distinctly is true. Explain the criticism that this formulation fails to
meet its own standard. Do you agree with the charge that
Descartes s rationalism is based on subjective states rather than on
reasons understood clearly and distinctly? Explain. *
4. Describe Descartes s evil genius. What is the evil genius s
significance to the Cartesian genesis? Do you accept Descartes s
arguments about the limits of the evil genius? Explain. *
5. Give Descartes s argument for the existence of God in your own
words and then analyze it. Is it convincing? Why or why not? *
6. What is the mind body problem? How does Descartes deal with
it? Is he successful? Why or why not? *
7. Explain what Susan Bordo means by the Cartesian
masculinization of philosophy.
8. Identify and assess some common examples of how dualism
affects our thinking about such things as moral responsibility,
mental illness, death, and any other examples you are aware of.
Consider both positive (if any) and negative (if any) effects of
dualistic thinking in the twenty-first century. *
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CHAPTER 9 ANSWERS