Philosophy 100                                                    Intro to Philosophy                                                Heusser              

 

Phil 1: Opinion Poll of Philosophical Problems

 

Directions: Mark “T” for True, “F” for False, and “DK” for Don’t Know

I. The Existence of God:

  1. An all-powerful, all-knowing God exists.                       58% T       11% F      31% DK

 

  1. There is no God.                                                           11% T       67% F      22% DK

 

  1. Evil can’t exist if there is a perfect being that created everything.6%T 86%F 8%DK

                                                                 

II. The Mind-body Problem:

  1. The mind (soul) can exist independently of the body. 53% T    21% F      26% DK

      

  1. The mind is the brain or a by-product of the brain.         46% T       29% F      25% DK

 

III. Free Will:

  1. Humans have free will.                                      83% T       8% F      8% DK

 

  1. Forces beyond our control determine all of our actions. 23% T   63% F    14% DK

 

IV. Personal Identity: (not directly covered in this Phil 1 course)

  1. Persons retain their identity over time so that a 70 year old and a 5 year old can be one and the same person.                                         28% T       36% F      28% DK

      

  1. Persons do not retain their identity over time because they are constantly changing.                                                                     74% T       9% F      18% DK

 

V. Ethics:

  1. There are universal morals that apply to everyone everywhere.64% T 31%F 6% DK

 

  1. Morality is relative to the individual or to society.           81% T       11% F      8% DK

 

VI. Epistemology:

  1. We can have definite knowledge about the external world. 31% T 31% F 39% DK

 

  1. Real knowledge is impossible; all we can have are opinions. 28% T              44% F  28% DK

      

VII. Concerning Artificial Intelligence:

  1. Computers actually think in the same way that we do. 6% T    78% F     17% DK

 

  1. Humans have a fundamentally different way of thinking than computers.

89% T          3% F      8% DK

 

VIII. Concerning Ethical Applications (Phil 5 and possibly Phil 2):

  1. Human cloning should be allowed if it helps us to develop new cures for diseases or new knowledge about ourselves.                                 58% T       33% F      8% DK

 

  1. Human cloning should not be done because human cells ought to be afforded the same dignity that human persons have.                20% T       43% F      36% DK