Phil 2: Puzzles and Paradoxes

Midterm Exam

Rules & Tips: Put your answers in a .docx file to be submitted on the Canvas assignment Midterm Exam. The answers to questions in Part Two should be about half a page, double spaced. Please write out full sentences.

The exam is graded on your understanding of the assigned readings, your understanding of the lectures, and your ability to write in a clear and concise manner.

Here is a downloadable version of the exam if you would like to work on it offline: MidtermExam2021-1.docx

PART ONE: MULTIPLE CHOICE

Answer FOUR of the five multiple-choice questions. Each question is worth one point. For each question, please write the question number and the letter corresponding letter next to your answer.

(1) It is a feature of deductive arguments that the truth of the premises:

(A) is valid

(B) contradicts the truth of the conclusion

(C) guarantees the truth of the conclusion

(D) provides some weak evidence for the truth of the conclusion

(E) calls into doubt the truth of the conclusion.

(2) What is a paradox:

(A) a circular argument

(B) an invalid yet sound argument that leads to a conclusion that is knowable a posteriori

(C) an inductive argument whose premises entail a surprising conclusion

(D) an argument that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from an acceptable conclusion, leads to premises that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self contradictory

(E) an argument that, despite valid (or apparently valid) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, unacceptable, or self-contradictory.

(3) Which statement is true:

(A) Zeno uses his paradoxes of motion to show that everything is in constant motion

(B) The racetrack paradox assumes that space and time are discrete

(C) The paradox of moving bodes is meant to show that if space and time are continuous, motion is impossible

(D) It is possible to respond to the paradox of Achilles through a proper understanding of the mathematics of the infinite

(E) Zeno hopes to show that space is continuous.

(4) Which of the following describes Parfit's view of personal identity:

(A) Parfit is a materialist about personal identity

(B) Parfit accepts Locke’s original memory theory of personal identity

(C) Parfit is a dualist about personal identity

(D) Parfit denies that personal identity is all or nothing

(E) Parfit believes that teletransportation is impossible.

(5) Which of these is not a possible response to the liar paradox:

(A) claim that the liar sentence is both true and false

(B) claim that liar sentence is meaningless

(C) claim that the liar sentence is true, not false

(D) claim that there must be a hierarchy of different concepts of truth

(E) claim that truth comes in degrees.

PART TWO: SHORT ANSWERS.

Answer four of the seven questions below. If the question has several parts make sure to answer each part. You don’t have to write a lot; usually two to four paragraphs will suffice. But write in complete sentences, not just catchwords. Each question is worth four points.

(6) Choose either Zeno’s paradox of the moving bodies or the paradox of the arrow. What does this paradox assume about space and time? What is the paradox meant to show? What is one way to (re)solve this paradox?

(7) Explain McTaggart’s distinction between an A-series and a B-series of time. Explain McTaggart’s argument that the A-series involves a contradiction. What, if anything, is problematic about McTaggart’s argument to the effect that the A-series involves a contradiction?

(8) What is time travel? Explain the grandfather paradox. Explain David Lewis’s solution to the grandfather paradox. Do you find Lewis’s solution convincing and why?

(9) What is one reason for thinking that causal determinism is incompatible with the existence of free will? How might a compatibilist argue that causal determinism and free will are in fact compatible? What is one reason to be dissatisfied with this sort of compatibilism?

(10) Explain what fatalism is. Explain the argument for fatalism from foreknowledge. Suppose you were Osmo and you found the book describing your past and future life in a local library. Would it be rational for you adopt a fatalistic attitude and why? How, if at all, do you think that your situation differs from Osmo’s?

(11) Explain the paradox of omnipotence. Which solution to the paradox of omnipotence do you find most convincing? Explain the solution. Explain why the solution of your choice is superior compared to competing solutions.

(12) What in general is a psychological theory of personal identity? Explain the particular version of this theory given by Locke’s memory theory. What is Reid's objection to the memory theory? How does the modified memory theory respond to this objection?