PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY-PHY 131: POSSIBLE EXAM QUESTIONS
N.B: This course is simply all about “IDENTIFY”. Except you are asked to explain (which is very rare) simply “IDENTIFY” as has been done below. These are some questions which usually do repeat themselves year after year. So, study them well. However, pay attention to your lecturer and find out if he might be going in a different direction this time. But if not, GOODLUCK!
1. Identify the philosopher’s business with psychology.
· The philosopher’s business with psychology is with the principle of valid thought and knowledge that underlines psychology.
2. Identify the psychological foundations of logic.
i. Sophistry
ii. Dialectics
iii. Syllogism
iv. Symbolic/deductive
v. Mathematical
3. Man is in a sense different from his fellow primates in a numbers of aspects. Identify five (5) of these aspects. ‘OR” Identify five (5) Conceptions of man as variously presented by the Marxists.
· They are, Man as;
i. A social being
ii. A material being
iii. A conscious being
iv. A creative being
v. A free being
vi. An alienated being
vii. A supreme being
viii. An economic being
4. Plato and Freud each distinguished three (3) kinds of human personality/drive. Identify them.
· Plato
i. Nous (mind)
ii. Thumos (chest)
iii. Epithumia (stomach)
· Freud
i. “id”
ii. “superego”
iii. “Ego”
5. Identify the four (4) functions of the human mind.
i. Consciousness
ii. Imagination
iii. Rationality
iv. Memory
6. Identify the driving impulse or instinctive drives of human action or behavior.
i. “id”
ii. “Superego”
iii. “Ego”
7. Identify five (5) roles/importance of philosophy in the society.
i. Philosophy is the love and pursuit of wisdom.
ii. Philosophy gives self-understanding.
iii. Philosophy asks fundamental questions.
iv. The subject matter of philosophy helps to build society.
v. Philosophy humanizes by serving humanity.
8. Identify five (5) reasons why philosophy has advantage over other disciplines, subjects or courses; “OR”, Identify five reasons why philosophy graduates are better than graduates from other disciplines.
i. It builds the ability to solve problems generally.
ii. It builds persuasive power and ability for arguments.
iii. It builds writing and communication skills.
iv. It frees our mind from assumptions by helping us to clarify issues.
v. It makes one intellectually fit in order to be pragmatically relevant to humanity.
9. Identify the main difference in the way both the philosopher and the psychologist deal with or handle concepts.
· The philosopher clarifies concepts by reflection and arguments.
· The psychologist verifies the hypotheses stated in these concepts via empirical research and procedures.
10. Identify three reasons for, and two against the idea of scientific psychology “OR” Identity 3 reasons why psychology is, and 2 reasons why it is not a science.
· 3 reasons for the idea of scientific psychology are;
i. Psychology is a purely objective, experimental study and its theoretical goal is prediction and control of human behavior.
ii. The assumption that, there are regularities to be found in the way people feel, learn, express emotions or their mental life.
iii. It is possible to know why people behave or act as they do.
· 2 reasons against the idea of scientific psychology are;
i. Psychology does not issue generalizations because human beings are different, unpredictable and unstable.
ii. Psychology is concerned with value while science is concerned with facts.
11. The human spirit operates principally through three faculties. Identify them.
i. The intellect (mind)
ii. The will
iii. The memory
12. Identify five (5) mood symbols.
· These are;
13. Identify Plato’s three arguments for the immortality of the soul and two limitations/problems of same.
· The 3 arguments are;
i. Argument from opposites
ii. Argument of recollection
iii. Argument of Affinity
· The 2 limitations/problems are;
i. For the “argument from opposites” -some processes are observably unidirectional and others cyclical.
ii. For the arguments of “recollection and affinity” -these principles are based on a presupposition of the world of forms.
14. Identify four (4) basic moods in human wills, emotions and behaviors.
i. Weeping mood
ii. Pity mood
iii. Mourning mood
iv. Silence mood
15. Identify three (3) important moods in human or animal behavior (with symbols)
16. Identify the problems of Descartes mind-body theory.
i. The problem of the pineal gland.
ii. Descartes dragged in God to make his theory work.
iii. There is no evidence to show that Descartes is thinking.
iv. The nature of the mind is consciousness; now does it mean that the unconscious mind has no mind?
v. Descartes believes in innate ideas which refer to inborn knowledge.
17. In a bid to overcome the problems of Descartes dualism/mind-body theory, some theories sprung up. Identify five (5) of these theories and their proponents.
i. Epiphenomenalism by “Santayana”.
ii. Monism by “Democritus”.
iii. Parallelism by “Malebranche”.
iv. Occasionalism by “Leibniz”.
v. Double aspect theory by “Baruch Spinoza”.
vi. Identity theory by “J.J.C. Smart”, “U.T. place” and “Herbert Fiegl”.
18. Plato divides the “soul” into three parts. Identify them.
i. “Logos” -seat of reason
ii. “Thymos” – seat of emotion
iii. “Eros” – seat of appetites
19. Winning an argument in behavioral situations is not a matter of deductions; identify what it entails.
· It entails, “eliciting intense emotional responses”.
20. Identify the philosophical objections/problems of behaviorism.
i. Behaviorism is unpopular.
ii. Behaviorism is deterministic.
iii. Behaviorism has been described as mechanistic.
iv. Behaviorism is reductionist in approach.
v. Behaviorism oversimplifies human behavior.
