Metaphysics homework

Homework

Homework 1

Phil. 181, Prof. Dowden

due Thursday, Feb. 12, 2004

Answer all the questions in order. Answer each question on a separate page, and do not write more than one page per question. Please type your answers double-spaced. Do not use a cover page or booklet cover.

1. In his article "The Philosophical Significance of Einstein's Theory of Relativity," Hans Reichenbach claimed that if you want to understand the theory, then you have to commit yourself "to a philosophy for which the meaning of a statement is reducible to its verifiability." Explain what he means by remarking that the meaning of a statement is reducible to its verifiability. Would Rudolf Carnap and Peter van Inwagen agree with the remark? What can be said in favor of, or against, the remark?

2. In his 1912 classic, The Problems of Philosophy, Bertrand Russell claims that,

if we take any common object of the sort that is supposed to be known by the senses, what the senses immediately tell us is not the truth about the object as it is apart from us, but only the truth about certain sense-data which, so far as we can see, depend upon the relations between us and the object. Thus what we directly see and feel is merely 'appearance', which we believe to be a sign of some 'reality' behind.

What is C. D. Broad likely to say in defense of, or against, this passage?

3. Some philosophers would say that the appearance of a distant star is white even though the star died out centuries ago and no longer exists. Roderick Chisholm, using his adverbial theory, would disagree with those philosophers. What would Chisholm say, and what reasons would he offer?

Homework
Homework 1 Phil. 181, Prof. Dowden due Thursday, Feb. 12, 2004


	Answer all the questions in order. Answer each question on a separate page, and do not write more than one page per question. Please type your answers double-spaced. Do not use a cover page or booklet cover. 1. In his article "The Philosophical Significance of Einstein's Theory of Relativity," Hans Reichenbach claimed that if you want to understand the theory, then you have to commit yourself "to a philosophy for which the meaning of a statement is reducible to its verifiability." Explain what he means by remarking that the meaning of a statement is reducible to its verifiability. Would Rudolf Carnap and Peter van Inwagen agree with the remark? What can be said in favor of, or against, the remark? 2. In his 1912 classic, The Problems of Philosophy, Bertrand Russell claims that, if we take any common object of the sort that is supposed to be known by the senses, what the senses immediately tell us is not the truth about the object as it is apart from us, but only the truth about certain sense-data which, so far as we can see, depend upon the relations between us and the object. Thus what we directly see and feel is merely 'appearance', which we believe to be a sign of some 'reality' behind. What is C. D. Broad likely to say in defense of, or against, this passage? 3. Some philosophers would say that the appearance of a distant star is white even though the star died out centuries ago and no longer exists. Roderick Chisholm, using his adverbial theory, would disagree with those philosophers. What would Chisholm say, and what reasons would he offer?