Nancy Cartwright, "The Truth Doesn't Explain Much"

1. According to Cartwright, scientific theories:

• (a) explain by describing reality
• (b) contain only true laws of nature
• (c) can only explain phenomena if they are true
• (d) none of the above

2. According to Cartwright, the "covering law" model of explanation:

• (a) allows us to explain almost everything
• (b) allows us to explain hardly anything
• (c) allows us to discover the truth
• (d) is a complete account of scientific explanation

3. According to Cartwright, the dilemma for the covering law model is that:

• (a) laws which cover are false, and laws which are true don't cover
• (b) laws which are true are impossible to find
• (c) all covering laws are ceteris paribus laws
• (d) Snell's law is really a ceteris paribus law

4. According to Cartwright, ceteris paribus laws:

• (a) are statistical laws
• (b) are accidental generalizations
• (c) are exceptionless generalizations
• (d) none of the above

5. According to Cartwright, ceteris paribus generalizations are:

• (a) true, without any qualifications
• (b) preferred by covering law theorists to explain phenomena
• (c) false, without the "ceteris paribus" modifier
• (d) laws of nature

6. According to Cartwright, covering law theorists presuppose that:

• (a) nature is chaotic
• (b) nature is well-regulated by laws
• (c) nature is not determined by laws
• (d) nature was created by God

7. According to Cartwright, most scientific explanations:

• (a) are false
• (b) use ceteris paribus laws
• (c) use true laws of nature
• (d) are useless

8. According to Cartwright, it is possible that:

• (a) there is a law of nature to cover every phenomenon
• (b) there is a ceteris paribus law to cover every phenomenon
• (c) there are some phenomena which are not dictated by laws
• (d) all of the above