Use this free practice quiz with 20 questions to review 2 Existence and Being, test your knowledge, and prepare for your next test or exam.
What is ontology?
The branch of metaphysics that asks what exists and how existing things are fundamentally organized
The study of how people learn the names of objects
The study of which physical objects are most useful
The branch of logic that classifies statements as true or false
Which statement best describes philosophical systems of categories?
There is one universally accepted list of categories.
Philosophers disagree about which categories are fundamental and which categories should be included.
Every proposed category is known to have real members.
A category system can include only physical objects.
Why is a particular oak tree a standard example of a concrete entity?
It is abstract because it can be described with words.
It is abstract because it belongs to a category.
It is concrete because it occupies a place, persists through time, and can affect its surroundings.
It is neither concrete nor abstract because it is a living thing.
A printed numeral “3” is moved from one page to another. Which description best distinguishes the numeral from the number it represents?
Both the printed numeral and the number it represents are concrete marks.
The printed numeral is a concrete mark, while the number it represents is commonly treated as abstract.
The printed numeral is abstract, while the number it represents is a concrete object.
Neither the printed numeral nor the number it represents can be classified.
Select all the descriptions that correctly match an example to a proposed category of entity.
A particular tree — object or substance
A tree’s greenness — property
A tree’s standing beside a bench — relation
The number 3 — abstract entity
Select all the claims supported about abstract entities and the concrete–abstract distinction.
Numbers are standard examples of abstract entities.
Whether properties are abstract, concrete, or something else depends on the account.
The concrete–abstract distinction does not by itself settle whether abstract entities exist.
If something is classified as abstract, its existence is thereby established.
In standard first-order logic, “There is a tree” means that at least one thing is a tree.
True
False
Classifying something under a proposed category does not by itself prove that the category has real members.
True
False
What term names a broad kind of entity used to describe what exists and how different kinds of things relate?
What is the name of the view that at least some abstract objects exist independently of our thinking about them?
In standard first-order logic, existence is expressed with the .
A seed is an example of a process: something that unfolds.
Explain the difference between asking what exists and asking what it is for anything to be at all. Include how philosophers relate the notions of being and existence.
A seed is growing. Which proposed category best describes the growing itself?
An abstract entity
An event or process
A property
A relation
A tree stands beside a bench. Which category best describes the tree's being beside the bench?
An object
A property
A relation
An abstract entity
True or false: If a theory places a kind of thing in one of its categories, that alone proves that things of that kind exist.
True
False
In standard first-order logic, what is the name of the logical device used to express that at least one thing is a tree?
Which statement best reflects the status of philosophical systems for organizing what exists?
There is one universally accepted list of categories.
Philosophers have proposed different category systems, with no single universally accepted list.
Categories include only objects and substances.
A category system establishes that every listed kind of entity exists.
A printed numeral 3 is moved from one page to another. Which interpretation best applies the concrete–abstract distinction?
The printed mark is concrete, while the number it represents is commonly treated as abstract.
Both the printed mark and the number are concrete because they can be understood.
The printed mark is abstract, while the number is concrete because it can be counted.
Both are abstract because they represent a mathematical idea.
What is the name of the position that affirms that at least some abstract objects exist independently of our thinking about them?