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WorksheetsElisabeth, Princess of Bohemia: Introduction
Total questions: 45
Worksheet time: 45mins
Which philosopher did Elisabeth of Bohemia engage in a significant correspondence with between 1643 and 1649?
Francis Bacon
René Descartes
Baruch Spinoza
Thomas Hobbes
Identify the primary philosophical issue Elisabeth of Bohemia challenged in Descartes’ philosophy.
The existence of innate ideas
The possibility of skepticism
The union of mind and body and the passions (emotions)
The nature of mathematical truth
Briefly explain why Elisabeth’s correspondence is historically significant in the context of early modern philosophy.
Which institution is referenced in relation to the study of Elisabeth and other women philosophers and scientists?
Royal Society
Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists
Académie Française
Berlin Academy of Sciences
According to Elisabeth’s first letter, what central problem does she raise?
How the immaterial soul moves the body
Whether the soul is mortal
If mathematics can prove God
Whether politics influences philosophy
Elisabeth questions whether all motion requires which two physical features?
Weight and density
Heat and pressure
Contact and extension
Space and time
In asking for “a more specific definition of the soul,” what does Elisabeth seek to clarify?
Descartes characterizes Elisabeth’s question as:
Irrelevant to his philosophy
The most salient question about his philosophy
Primarily theological
Already answered in previous works
Descartes says we know two things about the soul. Which pairing matches his reply?
It imagines and remembers
It thinks and it can act and suffer with the body
It perceives and wills only
It measures and calculates
What shift in focus does Descartes note regarding prior discussions of the soul?
Which items are listed among Descartes’ “Primitive or Basic Notions”?
Substance, attribute, mode
Mind, body, union of mind and body
Matter, motion, time
Cause, effect, purpose
In Descartes’ initial response, what does he aim to explain regarding mind and body?
According to Descartes, the union of mind and body includes the notion of the soul's power to move and be moved by the body. What concept needs clarification in this union?
Extension
The notion of power
Pascal's Wager
Empirical observation
Descartes claims people have confused the notion of power with ideas received from the senses due to qualities of bodies. Which everyday quality does he use as an example to illustrate this confusion?
Elasticity
Temperature
Heaviness/weight
Color
In Descartes' explanation, why is applying the notion of power to heaviness a misuse?
Because heaviness is purely mental
Because movement by heaviness is not done through contact
Because heaviness has no effect on bodies
Because only extended substances have power
Descartes suggests that the notion of power related to heaviness helps conceive what?
How extension defines matter
How the soul moves the body
How bodies attract each other
How perception arises
Elisabeth writes that she still cannot comprehend how the soul, described as non-extended and immaterial, can move the body using Descartes' heaviness idea. What characteristic of the soul is central to her difficulty?
Its mortality
Its extension
Its immaterial and non-extended nature
Its dependence on senses
What practical obstacle does Elisabeth mention that limits her ability to meditate on Descartes' ideas?
Lack of books
Travel obligations
Her life does not allow enough time
Illness
Elisabeth suggests it would be easier to concede which attributes to the soul than to grant it the capacity to move a body?
Perception and thought
Matter and extension
Freedom and will
Weight and contact
Explain, in your own words, how Descartes uses the analogy of heaviness/weight to clarify the soul's power in the union of mind and body.
According to Descartes’ second reply, how is the soul primarily known?
By the senses alone
By imagination alone
By pure understanding
By empirical science
In Descartes’ framework, which combination best describes how the body is known?
By pure understanding only
By imagination and senses only
By understanding and imagination
By faith and revelation
Descartes claims the union of soul and body is known most clearly by which faculty?
Understanding
Imagination
Senses and experience
Mathematical reasoning
What does Descartes say about attributing matter and extension to the soul?
It proves the soul is identical to body
It is simply conceiving the soul united to the body, but matter is not the thought itself and extension is of a different nature
It shows the soul thinks through extension
It is impossible to conceive
Descartes warns that meditating too much on metaphysics has what effect?
It enhances imagination and senses
It impedes the functions of the imagination and senses
It clarifies empirical methods
It strengthens moral virtue
What study practice does Descartes recommend after remembering metaphysical conclusions?
Avoid all further study
Focus solely on mathematics
Use the rest of the time for studying thoughts in which understanding acts with the imagination and the senses
Rely only on sensory experience
In Elisabeth’s third letter, what do the senses show her regarding the soul and body?
The senses show nothing about the soul
The senses show the soul moves the body but not the way it does so
The senses show the body moves the soul clearly
The senses prove Descartes’ metaphysics with certainty
Summarize Elisabeth’s concluding stance on Descartes’ metaphysical claims and the state of their correspondence.
Which term best describes Blaise Pascal’s philosophical orientation highlighted in this section?
Proto-existentialist
Logical positivist
Utilitarian
Stoic
According to Pascal’s view, which faculty is emphasized in knowing God?
Mathematical proof
Empirical observation
Logic of the heart
Skeptical doubt
Complete the statement from Pascal’s Pensées: “The heart has its reasons, which reason _______.”
What feeling does Pascal describe when contemplating “the eternal silence of these infinite spaces”?
Joy
Curiosity
Dread
Indifference
In contrast to Descartes, Pascal prioritized which aspect of human existence?
Rational deduction and methodic doubt
The affective side of human existence
Political power structures
Sensory empiricism
What critique did Pascal reportedly make about Descartes’ approach to God in philosophy?
Descartes made God the center of all proofs.
Descartes denied the existence of the world.
Descartes wanted to do without God except for a first nudge to set the world in motion.
Descartes embraced mysticism over reason.
What short judgment did Pascal make about Descartes, as noted in this section?
“Brilliant and precise.”
“Useless and uncertain.”
“Moral and practical.”
“Empirical and rigorous.”
According to Pascal's Wager, what is the main claim about God's existence and rational belief?
God's existence can be proven through reason, so belief is mandatory
God's existence cannot be proven, but it is nevertheless rational to believe
God's existence is disproven by infinite chaos, so belief is irrational
Faith and reason together conclusively prove God's existence
Which statement reflects Pascal's view on the infinite and God?
We can only know the nature of the infinite and God
We can know both exist without knowing their nature
Their existence depends on moral goodness
Reason alone reveals their nature
Select the quotation that expresses the necessity to make a choice in Pascal's Wager.
"But by faith we know his existence."
"Either God is or he is not. …Reason can determine nothing here. There is an infinite chaos that separates us. How will you wager? You must wager, so what is the best bet to make?"
"On the infinite and God: We can know both without knowing their nature."
"This is conclusive and if people are capable of any truth, this is it."
In the payoff matrix of Pascal's Wager, if God exists and you believe, what is the outcome?
Lose everything, infinite unhappiness
Win everything, infinite happiness
Lose nothing, and you will be morally good
Win nothing, but you may be morally bad
According to the matrix, what happens if God does not exist and you believe?
Win everything, infinite happiness
Lose everything, infinite unhappiness
Lose nothing, and you will be morally good
Win nothing, but you may be morally bad
What problem is noted at the end of the presentation of Pascal's Wager?
Whether reason can prove God's existence
Whether infinite happiness is truly possible
What if you can't believe?
Whether moral goodness matters
Explain why Pascal argues that belief is the "best bet" given reason cannot determine God's existence. Provide a brief rationale based on the outcomes presented.
Briefly evaluate Descartes’ philosophy by naming one major strength and one major weakness of his approach.
Which prompt asks you to assess the persuasiveness of a specific argument?
Critically evaluate Descartes’ philosophy by identifying a major strength and weakness.
Is Pascal’s “Wager” cogent? Why or why not?
Summarize Pascal’s life and works.
Compare Plato’s Forms to Aristotle’s substances.
According to the translated inscription, what is praised all around the circle of the globe?
His bravery
His genius
His writings
His travels
