01
Choose one
1 point
A person is real, but their existence depends on more basic physical processes. Which distinction does this example illustrate?
Free Practice Quiz Question List
7 The Nature of Reality Online Quiz Questions
Use this free practice quiz with 20 questions to review 7 The Nature of Reality, test your knowledge, and prepare for your next test or exam.
20 questions
02
True or false
1 point
A question about whether someone at one time is the same person at a later time is a question about personal identity, not merely social or cultural identity.
- A
True
- B
False
03
Written response
1 point
What metaphysical view treats the mental and physical as fundamentally distinct? Enter the name of the view.
04
Fill in the blank
1 point
The view that reality is fundamentally physical is called .
05
Choose one
1 point
A person acts on their own reasons and is not coerced, but their action was determined by earlier conditions and the laws of nature. Which position best fits the view that this action can still be free?
- A
The action must be uncaused to count as free.
- B
Determinism is false whenever a person acts for a reason.
- C
The action can be free if the person acts according to their reasons without external coercion, even if it is determined.
- D
A determined action is free only if the person has an enduring self.
06
Choose all
1 point
Which of the following are possible answers to what makes someone the same person at different times? Select all that apply.
- A
Continuity of the body
- B
Continuity of psychological features such as memory and character
- C
Whether the person keeps the same social status
- D
An enduring self
07
True or false
1 point
If a metaphysical theory is simpler than its competitors, that alone proves it is true.
- A
True
- B
False
08
Fill in the blank
1 point
The position that an action is determined by earlier conditions and the laws of nature is called .
09
Written response
1 point
Which idea is named alongside reduction as a way to describe kinds of dependence? Enter the term.
10
Choose one
1 point
A theory of the mind–body relation must explain both the evidence linking mental life to the brain and which further feature of experience?
- A
Explaining why every mental state must be socially learned
- B
Accounting for both the brain-related evidence and what experience feels like from the inside
- C
Proving that conscious experience never changes
- D
Showing that every brain state is fundamental
11
Open ended
1 point
Two metaphysical theories account for the same observable facts but interpret the underlying reality differently. Explain how to evaluate the theories responsibly, and why the shared observations alone may not settle which interpretation is correct.
12
Choose one
1 point
Why do metaphysical theories aim to provide a coherent picture of the world rather than answer each puzzle in isolation?
- A
Each metaphysical question must have a separate answer with no effect on the others.
- B
Only questions about existence can affect how we understand the world.
- C
An account of what is fundamental can shape how we understand consciousness, agency, and causation.
- D
Metaphysical theories are coherent only when they avoid discussing change.
13
Choose all
1 point
A drought is said to have caused a famine. Which questions are relevant to understanding this causal claim? Select all that apply.
- A
What makes the claim that the drought caused the famine true?
- B
Whether every drought must cause a famine
- C
Whether causation is a relation between particular events, general patterns, or both
- D
How the causal claim relates to explanations of events
14
True or false
1 point
True or false: If a traffic jam depends on the positions and movements of vehicles, it cannot be real.
- A
True
- B
False
15
Choose one
1 point
Which statement best expresses physicalism as described in the material?
- A
Reality is fundamentally physical, though mental properties may be understood in different ways.
- B
The mental and physical are fundamentally distinct.
- C
Only conscious experience exists.
- D
Everything that exists is fundamental.
16
Choose one
1 point
A theory of mind and body must address both evidence connecting mental life to the brain and the fact that pain has a distinctive subjective feel. What challenge does this illustrate?
- A
Explaining how social identity determines whether a person persists through time.
- B
Accounting for the brain's relation to mental life and for the distinctive character of subjective experience.
- C
Showing that all mental properties are fundamental physical properties.
- D
Proving that conscious experience has no relation to the body.
17
Written response
1 point
What is the philosophical problem called that asks what makes someone at one time the same person at another?
18
Choose one
1 point
A person says that a drought caused a famine. Which philosophical question about causation does this claim raise?
- A
Whether a famine is a real entity or merely a useful description.
- B
Whether droughts are always the only cause of famine.
- C
Whether causation relates particular events, general patterns, or both.
- D
Whether every causal explanation must be about human agency.
19
Written response
1 point
What is the name for the position that determinism and the relevant kind of free will cannot both be true?
20
Choose one
1 point
Which example illustrates a disagreement about what exists?
- A
All metaphysical theories treat numbers as physical objects.
- B
Some theories accept numbers as abstract entities, while others seek to explain mathematical talk without treating numbers as independent objects.
- C
Numbers are real only if they can be perceived directly.
- D
Every theory denies that mathematical statements have meaning.