Introduction to Philosophy Mr. Pendergast

What is Your Philosophy?

Where you stand on these issues? What are your philosophical beliefs (don’t worry - you have some even if you don’t know it!)? Here’s a chance to discover where you stand on some of the issues that Philosophers have been thinking and arguing about for centuries.

Look at each question and indicate your views by writing the appropriate number in the space provided. Use this scale to make your choices:

5 = true 4 = probably true 3 = neither probable nor improbable 2 = probably false 1 = false

1. The mind or soul (your essence) can exist independently of the body. __________

2. The mind is the brain or a by-product of the brain – “mind” and “brain” are the same. __________

3. Humans have free will. __________

4. All of our actions are determined by forces beyond our control. __________

5. Persons retain their identity over time so that a 70-year-old and a 5-year-old can be one and the same person. __________

6. Persons do not retain their identity over time because they are constantly changing. __________

7. There are universal moral principles that apply to everyone everywhere. __________

8. Morality is relative to the individual or to society. __________

9. An all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good God exists. __________

10. There is no God. __________

11. We can have definite knowledge about the external world. __________

12. Real knowledge is impossible. All we can have are opinions. __________

Hold on to this survey after we discuss. We’re going to look at them again at the end of the semester to see if your views have changed once you’ve become “licensed philosophers.”