Western Civilization II / Unit 5 WC2 0427 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Classifying a Method: Inductive, Deductive, Deist, Materialist
The idea
The exam describes a thinker's procedure or conclusion and asks what to call it. Two questions sort the cases: does the reasoning run from facts to theory or from theory to facts, and does the conclusion keep a God who acts, a God who does not, or no God at all.
In practice
Five cases. A hypothesis tested by attempts to disprove it, with only repeatable results trusted: facts to theory, inductive, Bacon. Doubt everything until one certainty remains, then deduce God from it: theory to facts, deductive, Descartes. A universe running on mathematical laws, set going by a creator who no longer intervenes: a God who does not act, deism. Nature's laws synonymous with God, no soul, no spirit: no God apart from nature, materialism, Spinoza. A geocentric model kept by adding spheres to fit the planets: theory bending facts, deductive, Ptolemy's heirs.
Where people slip
Induction and deduction describe procedure; deism and materialism describe conclusions, and a thinker can hold one of each. Newton induced from data and remained a believer. Classify the procedure and the conclusion separately.
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