Philosophy Assignment
1. The sentence "I like eating big boxes and books" is a striking case of
a. semantic ambiguity
b. syntactic ambiguity or amphiboly
c. invalid ambiguity
d. the same semantic ambiguity as occurs in "I like shooting birds."
e. no ambiguity at all
2. Producing a definition "by example" is accomplished by
a. pointing to or exhibiting all the objects being defined
b. pointing only to objects that do not fit the word being defined
c. pointing to or exhibiting some of the objects being defined
d. providing a synonym
e. none of the above
3. Which term is the strongest euphemism?
a. retarded
b. totally spazzed
c. challenged
d. incompetent
e. differently abled
4. Which is the only type of argument that ever guarantees a true conclusion?
a. deductive
b. inductive
c. abductive
d. IBE
e. none of the above [the correct answer is "sound"]
5. The "tradition argument"
a. was invented by conservative philosophers
b. is used on a regular basis by liberal philsophers
c. reaches false conclusions on the basis of true premises
d. defends the claim that democratic voting usually produces tru beliefs
e. argues that current customs should be based on proven customs
6. Which item in the following list of four claims has the most negative/critical rhetorical or emotive force?
Professor Henderson's class . . .
a. doesn't need much studying to pass
b. is a gut
c. is easy
d. doesn't require a pre-frontal cortex to ace
e. all four have the same emotive force
7. A random procedure to select subjects for a medical study is likely to produce a sample population that
a. is the correct size
b. does not yield a hasty generalization
c. is representative of the target or "sample frame" population
d. statistically yields a skewed Bell curve
e. all the above
8. Ambiguity can occur in or with
a. sentences in a language
b. photographic images
c. actions, behaviors
d. DVD or streaming video
e. all the above
9. According to the authors of the textbook, the "best" type of reasoning is what Aristotle called
a. modus ponens
b. ethos
c. logos
d. modus tolens
e. pathos
10. Good examples of inductive reasoning are found
a. in algebra textbooks
b. in a court of law, with juries making decisions
c. in elections that have no poll fees
d. while playing (shooting) pool (billiards)
e. none of the above
11. For most large scale medical or drug experiments, where the population about which conclusions are being reached is over 20,000 people, a sample size of roughly _____ people is statistically adequate.
a. 579
b. 1001
c. 13,130
d. 12,100
e. 2507
12. "Amphiboly" is a synonym of
a. non-grouping ambiguity
b. grouping ambiguity
c. ambiguity
d. semantic ambiguity
e. syntactic ambiguity
13. The conclusion of a strong inductive argument
a. has the probability 1 if the premises have the probability 1
b. has a probability less than 1 even if the premises are true
c. has a probability that can never be calculated
d. has the probability 0 [zero], because all inductions are technically invalid
e. has more probability than the premises of that argument
14. The following reasoning best illustrates a slippery slope
a. "No one would ever go bald, because were they to lose one hair, they wouldn't be bald, and that also applies to the second hair, and so forth."
b. "No one would ever get obese, because eating one bite of donut won't make them obese, if they ate it, and the same for the second bite, were they to eat it."
c. "We cannot kill a human conceptus that's two days old because little by little it turns into a fetus and then a neonate."
d. "If we hold hands, then we'll kiss, and then we'll french kiss, and then we'll get undressed, and then ... you know!"
e. "If we turn right, we'll crash right into that cop car, making a noise.
15. A hasty generalization occurs when
a. the people sampled do not "represent" the whole population about which conclusions are being reached
b. the people sampled are not randomly chosen
c. the people sampled are not objectively collected
d. the group of people sampled is way too small
e. the group of people sampled is larger than the whole population about which conclusions are being reached
16. A successful definition by example of the sentence "It is raining" will also be a successful definition by example of
a. Es regnet
b. Nolo contendere
c. Ipso facto
d. Ad remedium concupiscentiae
e. Reductio ad absurdum
17. A "biased generalization" occurs when
a. the researchers are prejudiced against people of a certain ethnicity
b. the researchers hold stereotypes about people of a certain ethnicity
c. the researchers did not study a sufficient number of subjects
d. the researchers used a cold, random procedure to select the sample population
e. the researchers did not make the group of people studied "representative"
18. in logic, "abduction" is a synonym of
a. inference to the best explanation
b. "weak" induction
c. invalid deduction
d. kidnapping of a premise
e. process of elimination
19. The argument with the premise "X is the largest integer" and the premise "Y is the smallest integer," has the valid conclusion that
a. X and Y are the same size
b. X cannot be a prime
c. At least one of X, Y must be even
d. No valid conclusdion because the argument is invalid
e. none of the above
20. Which ad hominem fallacy is most likely to involve dysphemism?
a. ad hominem positive/personal praise
b. ad hominem negative/personal attack
c. ad hominem situational
d. ad hominem circumstantial
e. all the above
21. Which type of argument guarantees a true conclusion when the premises are true?
a. deductively strong
b. inductively strong
c. deductively ampliative
d. deductively valid
e. not deductively weak
22. Which device depends on the difference between explicit and implicit meaning, or between implied and inferred meaning?
a. ridcule
b. tradition argument
c. innuendo
d. dysphemism
e. euphemism
23. The "begging the question" fallacy is often a case of
a. acircular reasoning
b. circular reasoning
c. bicyclical reasoning
d. burden of proof fallacy
e. false dilemma fallacy
24. From the premise "It is false that both A is true and B is true" and the premise "A is false," we can always logically conclude that
a. "B is false."
b. "It is probably false that B is false."
c. "A is necessarily false."
d. "B is true."
e. None of the above.
25. Which device takes advantage of conceptual unclarity?
a. slippery slope
b. tradition argument
c. ad hominem inconsistency
d. appeal to pity
e. line-drawing fallacy
26. Which device always involves exaggeration?
a. stereotype
b. sarcasm
c. hyperbole
d. syncope
e. none of the above
27. Classify the following sentence as a type of definition: "That stuff there, behind and between the teeth, that's plaque."
a. analytical definition
b. definition by synonym
c. definition by example
d. amphibolous definition
e. definition by elimination
28. Which of the following is a disambiguation of the sentence "Alicia decorated the Christmas tree with Jill."
a. Alicia did not wait for Jill to show up; she went ahead to decorate the tree by herself.
b. Jill decorated the Christmas tree with her cousin.
c. Alicia connected Jill's arms and legs to the top of the tree.
d. Jill decorated the tree by herself, not waiting for Alicia to show up.
e. Alicia pinned a small Christmas tree on Jill's sweater.
29. Which item in the following set of four claims has the most negative rhetorical or emotive force?
a. She occasionally lapsed in her duties toward others.
b. She sometimes negligently overlooked how her actions would affect others.
c. She infrequently seized opportunities to cause misfortune for others.
d. She was imperturbably vicious and malicious toward others.
e. They have equal emotive force
30. Which of the following is the strongest dysphemism?
a. a bit slow
b. about as challenged as the typical geek
c. way spazzed
d. differently abled
e. all four are equally strong
31. Which of the following is the best neutral analytic definition of "philosophy"?
a. The study of whatever it is that professional philosophers are paid to study.
b. The study of the deepest and most difficult questions about the meaning of life.
c. Theology
d. The study of the intersection of theology and psychology.
e. Psychology
32. Which of the following statements is true?
a. Analytic definitions are always more difficult to construct than definitions by example.
b. Definitions by example cannot ever be successful.
c. Analytic definitions are never semantically ambiguous.
d. Analytic definitions are never amphibolous.
e. None of the above.