Ancient Greek Test
While I have lived in my home, my rent has increased every year.
My salary has remained the same for three years.
Next year, I will probably be in a better financial situation.
Evaluate the argument and select the option that describes it.
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Inductive, weak, uncogent
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Deductive, valid, sound
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Inductive, strong, cogent
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Deductive, invalid, unsound
Which of the following is NOT an example of Aristotle’s notion of hylomorphism?
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The soul and a human being
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An unborn child and a human being
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Bodily organs and a human being
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A statue and a human being
When Crito tries to convince Socrates that he must not betray his own life, how does Socrates respond?
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He says that he is not afraid of dying and knows that his followers will restore his good name.
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He says that what is right is often misunderstood by mortals and must be left to the gods.
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He says that all life has value, but society determines the fate of man.
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He says that life would not be worth living if the principle of justice was violated.
Read the following statement by Socrates:
“In questions of just and unjust, fair and foul, good and evil, which are the subjects of our present consultation, ought we to follow the opinion of the many and to fear them; or the opinion of the one man who has understanding?”
Extract Socrates’ argument from this text and choose the sentence that accurately reflects it.
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Absolute justice can only be achieved when the state agrees with the opinion of the masses.
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He who has experienced the administration of justice will do as the majority commands him to do.
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Any man who cares about ethics and wisdom has an obligation to listen to himself over others.
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Non-experts have opinions, but the man who is an expert in a field has true knowledge.
According to Socrates in the Phaedo, why might death be an advantage to the philosopher?
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Death is the ultimate distinction between knowledge and opinion.
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In life, the Social Contract requires people to behave according to the needs and wants of others.
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Only humans can seek knowledge and truth, but their ability to do so ends with death.
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Eyes, ears, and other bodily organs can distract one from the attainment of truth and knowledge.
In the Apology, Socrates states that a good person does what he knows to be right despite __________.
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risking fame and fortune
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the wisdom of the gods
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negative personal consequences
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the laws of man
Which of the following statements about the atomistic worldview is FALSE?
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All reality is composed of atoms in a void.
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Atoms come in different shapes and sizes, and can exist in a number of ways.
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A philosophical atom is the same as a chemical atom.
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Everything that exists is either an atom or a collection of atoms.
Which of the following statements about the metaphysical tenets of Plato’s Doctrine of the Forms is FALSE?
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Perfection in the Forms does not exist in Platonic Heaven.
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Forms must exist in order for knowledge to be possible.
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The Forms exist in an intellectual realm that is fixed and never-ending.
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There is a cause and effect relationship between Forms and their earthly counterparts.
The value of the Socratic Method lies in showing students how to __________ on their own, rather than having it dictated to them.
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create an argument
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explain rhetoric
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gain knowledge
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evaluate an opinion
All of the following statements are central themes of Parmenidean metaphysics, EXCEPT:
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Complex phenomena can be explained as having been caused by the gods.
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All change is illusory.
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Reasonable assumptions can lead to paradoxes.
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This worldview transcends opinion to examine the world as it is.
Choose the statement that both Plato and Aristotle would agree is true.
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“Ideals are similar to mathematical objects or entities.”
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“The physical sciences are a source of eternal knowledge.”
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“The ideals of Beauty and Truth are not of this world.”
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“A human being is ‘human’ because he or she reflects the Form of a Human.”
Perhaps the most important way in which Socrates changed the course of Western philosophy was by focusing on __________.
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natural philosophy
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martyrdom
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moral philosophy
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cosmology
Recall the similarities and differences between Plato and Aristotle’s philosophical approaches.
Select the statement that would most likely have been made by Plato, rather than by Aristotle.
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“In order to find truth, we must first identify what makes a thing what it is, its essence.
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“My ideas have served as a starting point for both philosophy and the physical sciences.”
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“I teach by example and I live by what I teach, no matter the consequences.”
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“My approach is scientific and empirical; we learn about truth from observation and discovery.”
Which of the following statements about Aristotle’s metaphysics is FALSE?
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For Aristotle, existence requires matter and form— not one or the other, but both.
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Aristotle defined a particular as “a this” to distinguish it from a universal.
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Aristotle’s ultimate conclusion was that the nature of reality was change.
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The first philosophy for Aristotle was ontology, which examines the nature of being.
Which of the following is the most important tenet of Stoicism?
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To understand that reality is either good or bad
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To feed our desires
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To resist playing a role
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To let go of what we cannot control
Roland is a compassionate person. He sometimes gives money that he needs for himself to strangers who beg on the street.
According to Aristotle’s ethics, Roland should do which of the following in order to cultivate the virtue of compassion?
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Spend time with compassionate people in order to learn the essence of compassion.
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Find other ways to help people besides giving his money away.
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Stop giving away his money so that he can focus on taking care of himself.
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Find middle ground between being too compassionate and not compassionate enough.
When Alan joins the military, he discovers that the philosophy of Stoicism is popular with his fellow soldiers.
All of the following describe reasons why Stoicism is a good fit for the military, EXCEPT:
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It is important for soldiers to do their jobs with skill and dispassion.
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Stoicism emphasizes personal control of emotions and actions.
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Soldiers must remain impassive to what is outside their control.
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Courage in battle is measured by the efficiency of one’s actions.
Being a good parent is a __________ condition for having a child.
Apply conceptual analysis to this statement and choose the answer that correctly describes the relationship.
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neither necessary nor sufficient
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both necessary and sufficient
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necessary, not sufficient
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sufficient, not necessary
Kendra believes that women have a right to choose to have an abortion.
Select the statement that is consistent with Kendra’s belief.
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“The man should have an equal say in whether or not a woman ends her pregnancy.”
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“I voted for this presidential candidate because she supports a woman’s right to have an abortion.”
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“Every woman should be a mother; it is our function and purpose as human beings.”
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“Some women use abortion as a form of birth control, which is wrong.”
Lisa is considering whether it is morally permissible to eat meat.
Which branch of philosophy can help her answer this question?
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Metaphysics
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Ethics
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Epistemology
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Cosmology
In Plato’s view, justified true beliefs must be related to his metaphysical notion of __________, which he called the Forms.
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knowledge
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truth
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essence
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wisdom
According to Plato’s doctrine of Forms, what makes a rose a rose is that it __________.
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changes the Form of Rose
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imitates the genuine Form of Rose
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serves the purpose of a rose
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reveals what is true about all roses
All of the following are central tenets of Aristotle’s ethics, EXCEPT:
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Something is good when it excels at its function.
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An action is evaluated based on how it informs character.
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Knowing the essence of a thing can justify a belief.
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Any virtue can become a vice.
“I view the world as a mathematical entity of perfect harmony.”
Which ancient philosopher would most likely have made this statement?
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Pythagoras
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Xenophanes
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Anaxagoras
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Protagoras
Heraclitus developed __________, which maintained that the world is composed of objects and their counterparts, all of which are connected to one another.
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the Unity of Opposites
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Heraclitean paradoxes
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Heraclitean metaphysics
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the Doctrine of Flux
1. The Beginning of Western Philosophy 2. The Big Picture and a Contemporary Definition 3. Some Major Branches of Philosophy
1. The Beginning of Western Philosophy Western philosophy is traditionally thought to have started when a mathematician named Thales of Miletus successfully predicted an eclipse in 585 BCE. Although this may seem to have been an accomplishment in the field of astronomy, not philosophy, astronomy, like many other sciences, was once considered to be a branch of philosophy.
Imagine for a moment that you lived in Greece 2600 years ago, but Thales had not made his famous prediction about the eclipse. What would people have thought caused the eclipse? Would they have concluded that the gods were angry, or bringing the world to an end? Whatever conclusions might have been reached about the meaning of the event, it’s likely that it would have been connected to the gods. By making his prediction based on analysis of his observations, Thales demonstrated that humans were capable of interpreting reality on their own, without divine assistance.
Thales demonstrated that the world was fundamentally understandable and predictable. Human beings do not need to appeal to the gods to learn about the world, or to use what they learn. By applying reason to observations, people can solve many of life’s puzzles. The desire to know and learn is the foundation of philosophy.
WHAT’S COVERED
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Thales, illustrated here, was a pre-socratic philosopher. In addition to philosophy, Thales also had a strong interest in mathematics and
astronomy.
2. The Big Picture and a Contemporary Definition To better understand what philosophy involves, consider the etymology of the word, “philosophy.” It comes from two Greek words, philos and sophia. Philos means “love.” It is the basis of a number of common words, including “philanthropy” and “Philadelphia.” Sophia, which is also part of “sophisticated” and “sophomore,” means “wisdom” (and before you sophomores start feeling too proud, sophomore means “wise fool”). Philosophy, at a fundamental level, is the love of wisdom.
Wisdom is not the same as knowledge. One can have all of the knowledge in the world but still lack wisdom. Rather than referring to information retained in memory (i.e, knowledge), wisdom refers to the ability to apply reason to knowledge, in order to make use of it in beneficial ways. Wisdom focuses on how we use what we learn, rather than on what we learn.
The highest degree one can earn in biology is a PhD — a doctorate in philosophy. A PhD in biology not only means that you know facts and concepts in the field (i.e., knowledge), but that you can use that knowledge to make new contributions — in biology or a related field. You can evaluate the body of biological knowledge and determine how parts of it can be used in new ways. As a result of philosophy’s focus on wisdom, science and philosophy share a similar methodology.
Defining philosophy as “love of wisdom” helps us to begin to understand it, but it lacks precision. Here is the definition of philosophyphilosophy that we will use in this course:
TERM TO KNOW
Philosophy The pursuit of truths that cannot be wholly determined empirically.
Philosophy seeks to find truth in areas where science cannot.
EXAMPLE Consider this philosophical question: “Is there a creator god of a certain description?” We cannot answer this question by looking for a god through a telescope. In this instance, science cannot help
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us to find the truth. There are two possible answers to this question: “there is” or “there isn’t.”
In seeking to arrive at the truth, philosophy is not mere opinion. If two people disagree, this doesn’t mean that it is not possible to find an answer and that they must agree to disagree. With respect to the example above, If two people disagree as to what is true, one of them is simply wrong. Philosophy helps us to determine which one.
Since we cannot use a telescope, a microscope, etc. to discover who is right and who is wrong, we must make inferences: We take the evidence we have and ask whether it supports one position or the other. We use logic to decide which position is better-supported and, therefore, more reasonable. It is for this reason that logic is the backbone of philosophy.
3. Some Major Branches of Philosophy Philosophy encompasses a number of branches/sub-disciplines. The three most significant branches involving the philosophers we’ll study in this course are ethicsethics, epistemology, and metaphysics.
TERM TO KNOW
Ethics The branch of philosophy that analyzes and defends concepts of value, and thereby determines right and wrong.
Questions of right and wrong fit within the definition of philosophy provided above. Consider this action: punching a small child. The sciences can tell us a lot about this action. Medicine can predict the damage it would cause. Political science can determine its legal consequences. Psychology can provide insight into the mind of the perpetrator. But no scientific analysis can tell us that this action is wrong.
Of course, it is wrong, and anyone who claims that “wrong” is merely an opinion, and that this action is not something that can be true or false, should be ignored. Science can tell us that this action would cause pain, but it is a philosophical truth that causing pain unnecessarily is wrong.
Although questions of right and wrong are the prerogative of philosophy, science has a role. Later in the course, we will consider philosophical approaches to ethics, including the philosophy of Socrates, who was not only deeply interested in determining how to live a morally upright life, but was willing to die to uphold his beliefs.
Philosophy provides a benefit to science through epistemologyepistemology.
TERM TO KNOW
Epistemology The branch of philosophy that analyzes and defends concepts of knowledge and the methodologies by which it is attained.
Philosophy is sometimes called the “mother of the sciences” because it determines what constitutes knowledge. For example, it helps biologists determine what is biological knowledge (versus mere opinion), and what methods can generate knowledge. Philosophers of science were the driving force behind the development and refinement of the scientific method. Socrates distinguished knowledge from opinion, while Plato gave the first clear account of knowledge. Aristotle, the father of physics, biology, and astronomy, used philosophy to develop and enhance these disciplines.
The largest and, perhaps, the most fundamental branch of philosophy is metaphysicsmetaphysics.
TERM TO KNOW
Metaphysics The branch of philosophy that seeks to uncover and describe the ultimate nature of reality.
The prefix “meta” means “beyond.” Metaphysics works on fundamental issues that are beyond science —
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principles in which science may be grounded. For instance, although science identifies and describes the laws of physics, what is a law? What is its status? What kind of a thing is it? These are metaphysical questions. Metaphysics also considers questions including, is there a god? Are we free to make decisions, or are all of our choices predetermined? What is the ultimate nature of time? What is causation? All of the philosophers included in this course have something to say about these topics. Additionally, we’ll learn how metaphysics informs other philosophical disciplines, such as ethics.
These three branches of philosophy will be a major focus of this course. Other branches of philosophy (e.g., natural philosophy and cosmology), have been largely relegated to the sciences.
TERMS TO KNOW
Natural Philosophy The branch of philosophy that examines nature and the universe
Cosmology The branch of philosophy that studies the universe in its totality
The subjects studied in what was called “natural philosophy” have moved from philosophy to physics, astronomy, and other sciences. Cosmology is now a branch of astrophysics (cosmogony is a branch of cosmology that focuses on the origin of the universe).
Since philosophy is the pursuit of wisdom, it supports all pursuits of knowledge. To discover wisdom, philosophy uses logic, reason, and critical thinking, and studies topics including ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics. In this course, we’ll learn about these branches of philosophy, practice logic, and examine philosophical approaches to questions including “What is knowledge?” “What is real?” and “What is a good life and how should I live?”
Source: Image of Thales, PD, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thales_of_Miletus#/media/File:Illustrerad_Verldshistoria_band_I_Ill_107.jpg
Cosmology
The branch of philosophy that treats the universe in its totality
Epistemology
The branch of philosophy that analyzes and defends concepts of knowledge and the methodologies
that attain it
Ethics
The branch of philosophy that analyzes and defends concepts of value and thereby seeks to
determine right and wrong
Metaphysics
The branch of philosophy that seeks to uncover and describe the ultimate nature of reality
Natural Philosophy
The branch of philosophy that treats nature and the universe
SUMMARY
TERMS TO KNOW
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