Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo
Introduction to Philosophy

Review Questions

Introduction to PhilosophyReview Questions

6.1 Substance

1 .
Why does Thales believe that water is the most basic reality?
2 .
The Pre-Socratics were wrong in their various metaphysical explanations. Yet they are considered to have contributed significantly to the history of philosophy and metaphysics. How could they have contributed if they were wrong?
3 .
What inspired Kanad and his atomistic understanding of reality?
4 .
What does the Sun represent within Plato’s Allegory of the Cave?
5 .
How does Aristotle connect the acorn and the oak? What do they share?

6.2 Self and Identity

6 .
Why does the “Ship of Theseus” present a problem for identity?
7 .
What does the term “Anatman” mean? What are the implications for the self?
8 .
What is the so-called “mind-body problem”?
9 .
What is the so-called “hard problem of consciousness?”
10 .
After reading Locke’s “The Prince and the Pauper” thought experiment, do you agree that two have switched identities? Why or why not?

6.3 Cosmology and the Existence of God

11 .
The moral arguments for the existence of God rest upon the reality of objective values. Can a shared human interest preserve a sense of objective good (without needing a reference to a God)?
12 .
What does Anselm think is the difference between what exists in the mind and what exists in reality? And why does he think the idea of "that than which no greater can be conceived" must exist in reality?
13 .
In Aquinas’ arguments offered in this section, motion was not movement from one place to another but rather movement from potentiality to actuality, i.e, becoming. Using the acorn and the oak, describe what happens as a being moves from becoming to actuality within Aquinas’s metaphysics. What role does purpose play in motion? What role does God play?
14 .
Why is the existence of suffering a problem for those who posit a God?

6.4 Free Will

15 .
What is determinism?
16 .
What is the difference between hard and soft determinism?
17 .
What is libertarianism?
18 .
Is determinism compatible with moral culpability? Why or why not?
19 .
Who was Jean Paul Sartre and what was his position concerning the free will problem?
PreviousNext
Order a print copy

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introduction-philosophy/pages/1-introduction
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introduction-philosophy/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Dec 19, 2023 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.