Identifying Conclusions

1. [God’s] power, we allow, is infinite; whatever he wills is executed; but neither man nor any other animal is happy; therefore, he does not will their happiness. [David Hume]

2. It is right that men should value the soul rather than the body; for perfection of soul corrects the inferiority of the body, but physical strength without intelligence does nothing to improve the mind. [Democritus]

3. The table, which we see, seems to diminish, as we remove farther from it: but the real table, which exists independent of us, suffers no alteration: it was, therefore, nothing but its image, which was present to the mind. [David Hume]

4. There cannot be any emptiness; for what is empty is nothing, and what is nothing cannot be. [Melissus]

5. We see that things which lack intelligence, such as natural bodies, act for an end, and this is evident from their acting always or nearly always, in the same way, so as to obtain the best result ... Now whatever lacks intelligence cannot move towards an end, unless it be directed by some being endowed with knowledge and intelligence; as the arrow is shot to its mark by the archer. Therefore, some intelligence exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this being we call God. [Thomas Aquinas]

6. This leads me to say a few words on what I have called Sexual Selection. This form of selection depends, not on a struggle for existence in relation to other organic beings or to external conditions, but on a struggle between the individuals of one sex, generally the males, for the possession of the other sex. The result is not death to the unsuccessful competitor, but few or no offspring. Sexual selection is, therefore, less rigorous than natural selection. [Charles Darwin]

7. [S]ome whales have been captured far north in the Pacific, in whose bodies have been found the barbs of harpoons darted in the Greenland seas. Nor is it to be gainsaid, that in some of these instances it has been declared that the interval of time between the two assaults could not have exceeded very many days. Hence, by inference, it has been believed by some whalemen, that the Nor'-West Passage, so long a problem to man, was never a problem to the whale. [Herman Melville]

8. Since the good, according to Plato, is that which furthers a person's real interests, it follows that in any given case when the good is known, men will seek it. [Avrum Stroll and Richard Popkin, Philosophy and the Human Spirit]

9. The fact that there was never a land bridge between Australia and mainland Asia is evidenced by the fact that the animal species in the two areas are very different. Asian placental mammals and Australian marsupial mammals have not been in contact in the last several million years. [T. Douglas Price and Gary M. Feinman, Images of the Past]

10. The classroom teacher is crucial to the development and academic success of the average student, and administrators simply are ancillary to this effort. For this reason, classroom teachers ought to be paid at least the equivalent of ad¬ministrators at all levels, including the superintendent. [Peter F. Falstrup, Letter to the Editor]

11. Cats can think circles around dogs! My cat regularly used to close and lock the door to my neighbor's doghouse, trapping their sleeping Doberman in¬side. Try telling a cat what to do, or putting a leash on him—he'll glare at you and say, "I don't think so. You should have gotten a dog." [Kevin Purkiser, Letter to the Editor]

12. Since private property helps people define themselves, since it frees people from mundane cares of daily subsistence, and since it is finite, no individual should accumulate so much property that others are prevented from accu¬mulating the necessities of life. [Leon P. Baradat, Political Ideologies, Their Origins and Impact]

13. Women of the working class, especially wage workers, should not have more than two children. The average working man can support no more and the average working woman can take care of no more in decent fashion. [Margaret Sanger, Family Limitations]

14. History has shown repeatedly that you cannot legislate morality, nor does anyone have a right to. The real problem is the people who have a vested interest in sustaining the multibillion-dollar drug industry created by the laws against drugs. The legalization of drugs would remove the thrill of breaking the law; it would end the suffering caused by unmetered doses, impurities, and substandard paraphernalia. A huge segment of the underground and ex¬tralegal economy would move into a legitimate economy, taking money away from criminals, eliminating crime and violence, and restoring many talented people to useful endeavor. [Thomas L. Wayburn, Letter to the Editor]

15. Infectious disease is no longer the leading cause of death in this country, thanks to antibiotics, but there are new strains of bacteria that are resistant to—and others that grow only in the presence of—antibiotics. Yet Congress wants to cut the National Institutes of Health budget. Further cuts would leave us woefully unprepared to cope with the new microbes Mother Nature has cooking in her kitchen. [Valina L. Dawson, Letter to the Editor]

Answers:

1. God does not will the happiness of man or any other animal.

2. It is right that men should value the soul rather than the body.

3. The table is nothing but its image, which was present to the mind.

4. There cannot be any emptiness.

5. God exists.

6. Sexual selection is less rigorous than natural selection.

7. The Nor’west Passage, so long a problem to man, was never a problem to the whale.

8. In any given case when the good is known men, will seek it.

9. There was never a land bridge between Australia and mainland Asia.

10. Classroom teachers ought to be paid at least the equivalent of administrators at all levels, including the superintendent.

11. Cats can think circles around dogs.

12. No individual should accumulate so much property that others are prevented from accumulating the necessities of life.

13. Women of the working class, especially wage workers, should not have more than two children.

14. Recreational drugs should be legalized.

15. The National Institutes of Health budget should not be cut.