Midterm Study Questions
34-356-01
Mind Design and Android Epistemology
Dr. M. Guarini

Your midterm exam will be in the usual room and the normal time.  The midterm itself will consist of an essay answer to one of the questions below.  The question will be selected at random and announced on the day of the midterm; strategic studying is strongly discouraged.  Material from the questions that are not used will be "recycled" and will likely show up, in one form or another, on your list of final exam study questions (so studying for everything now helps you to start getting ready for the final exam).

(1) According to Alvin Goldman in his "Epistemic Folkways and Scientific Epistemology," what are the goals of epistemology?  What does he think the branches are of scientific epistemology?  What are epistemic folkways?  How does Goldman think they are related to scientific epistemology?  What is Goldman's hypothesis regarding epistemic virtues and vices?  How does he apply it to the Norman case?  Do you agree or disagree?  Defend your position.

(2) To what extent, if any, might some of the ideas of Quine and Sellars contribute to naturalizing epistemology?  Defend your position. In the process, be sure to discuss Quine on the analytic-synthetic distinction, and be sure to discuss Sellars on the myth of the given, especially as applied to the corrigibility of our conceptual framework.

[There was a third question, but we couldn't get to the material before the midterm, so it has been deleted.]

 

What is the point of these questions?

By having the possible midterm questions in advance, you can take your time, reflect, and prepare answers so that you have the opportunity to go into the exam knowing what will be expected of you.  The questions themselves are designed to encourage you to synthesise or integrate material presented over different lectures or different readings. Some overlap is acceptable (and harmless since you will only have to answer one of these questions).  For example, in the answer to the second question, if you mentioned that Paul Churchland was a student of Sellars, and that he took the idea of our self-conception being (in principle) corrigible further than Sellars by arguing that it is actually false, that would be completely appropriate.  If all you did in answering the second question was to answer what I asked in the third question – if you try to duck what I asked you to focus on – then that type of answer to the second question would receive a failing grade. If, at any time, you are wondering what sort of topics you should or should not get into when answering one of the questions, ask the instructor.  He is happy to help out. In fact, if you have any questions at all about the study questions, please ask the instructor.  That's kind of why he posted them so far in advance of the midterm (i.e. to help you, and to help him to help you).