midterm

Question 1

what does philosophy mean

Answer 1

love of wisdom; created by Pythagoras

Question 2

what is metaphysics?

Answer 2

study of reality

Question 3

what is epistemology?

Answer 3

study of knowledge

Question 4

what is ethics?

Answer 4

study of the good life

Question 5

what is political philosophy?

Answer 5

study of good society

Question 6

what is aesthetics?

Answer 6

study of beauty

Question 7

what is teleology?

Answer 7

study of purposes/goals/ends

Question 8

who are Homer & Hesiod?

Answer 8

Poets
Homer: Iliad & the Odyssey
Hesiod: Theogony

Question 9

what philosophers did the gods anticipate?

Answer 9

Uranus: Parmenides
Cronos: Heraclitus
Zeus: Anaxagoras

Question 10

who are the Milesian philosophers?

Answer 10

the first Presocratics (Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes)
Monists
Physis (what everything is made of)

Question 11

Who is Thales & what did he believe?

Answer 11

the first philosopher/presocratic (water)

Question 12

Who is Anaximander & what did he believe?

Answer 12

Thales’ student, Apeiron (boundless, infinite)

Question 13

Who is Anaximenes & what did he believe?

Answer 13

student of Anaximander, he believed everything was made from air

Question 14

Who are the Pythagoreans? What did they believe?

Answer 14

Everything is governed by perfect mathematic harmonies.

Question 15

Who is Heraclitus? Who did he believe?

Answer 15

Second wave Presocratic. Logos (reason/word). Everything is constantly changing & in flux. Fire is the metaphor for change.

Question 16

Who is Parmenides? What did he believe?

Answer 16

From Elea in S. Italy. Nothing changes; there is only being. Everything other than being presupposes nothing. Nothing doesn’t change. Therefore, there is only being.

Question 17

Who is Zeno? What did he believe?

Answer 17

A disciple of Parmenides. Argued that motion was an illusion. Paradoxes of motion. Achilles & the Tortoise. The Arrow.

Question 18

What is the difference between monism & pluralism?

Answer 18

Monists believe in one thing as the fundamental reality. Pluralists believe that many things compose reality.

Question 19

Who is Empedocles? What did he believe?

Answer 19

A third wave Presocratic. Reality is made up of four elements (earth, air, water, fire) & two forces (love & hate)
Jumped into Mt. Etna to prove his divinity, left behind a shoe.

Question 20

Who is Anaxagoras? What did he believe?

Answer 20

-Third wave Presocratic. Friends w/ Pericles. Prosecuted for impiety by the Athiens.
-Believed the sun was a fiery rock & the moon a cold rock. Nous (mind & matter) In the beginning, matter was w/o form, & Nous intervened to give it form & purpose.
-Homomereity: the whole is contained in the part

Question 21

Who is Democritus? What did he believe?

Answer 21

Atomist, atoms & space. Atoms are eternal, invisible, & many/multiple. Átomos: uncuttable.
No teleology.
Determinist: everything operates according to cause & effect

Question 22

What was Socrates primarily interested in? How did that make him different than the Presocratics?

Answer 22

Human condition; not primary interested in natural science & metaphysics.

Question 23

How do we know about Socrates? Who are the main authors who talk about Socrates’ life?

Answer 23

Plato, Aristophanes, Xenophon
Socrates didn’t write anything down.

Question 24

who are the Sophists? What did they believe?

Answer 24

intellectuals, worldly-wise experts, interested in rhetoric (art of speaking); relativists, didn’t believe in objective truth
“man is the measure of all things.”

Question 25

Why isn’t Socrates a sophist, according to Plato?

Answer 25

doesn't charge money & he's committed to truth

Question 26

Which playwright accused Socrates of being a sophist? What is the name of the play he wrote about Socrates?

Answer 26

Aristophanes, The Cloud

Question 27

What is the Peloponnesian War?

Answer 27

massive series of battles between the Athenians & the Spartans. Spartans win.

Question 28

What was the Thirty?

Answer 28

a violent oligarchy created by the Spartans to rule over Athens.

Question 29

Who are Critias & Charmides?

Answer 29

relatives of Plato, students of Socrates, & members of the thirty

Question 30

What is the court of the King Archon?

Answer 30

Religious cases (heresy)

Question 31

What are the charges against Socrates?

Answer 31

impiety (disrespecting the old gods) & corruption of the youth

Question 32

Who is Socrates’ main accuser?

Answer 32

Meletus

Question 33

What is Socratic irony?

Answer 33

when Socrates takes an expert at their word as knowing something; at the end of the convo. he is the teacher & teaches the expert of their own ignorance

Question 34

Who is Euthyphro? What is his profession?

Answer 34

Fictional character invented by Plato. He’s a prophet.

Question 35

first definition of piety, & why doesn't it work according to Socrates?

Answer 35

a) prosecuting his father for wrongdoing b) example, not a definition

Question 36

second definition of piety, & why doesn't it work according to Socrates?

Answer 36

a) what the gods love is piety b) the gods love different things

Question 37

third definition of piety, & why doesn't it work according to Socrates?

Answer 37

a) what all the gods love b) do the gods love piety because it's pious, or because it's godly?

Question 38

fourth definition of piety, & why doesn't it work according to Socrates?

Answer 38

a) part of justice which is care for the gods b) what do you mean care? how can one care for a perfect human being?

Question 39

fifth definition of piety, & why doesn't it work according to Socrates?

Answer 39

a) knowing how to pray & sacrifice b) more examples, does not answer the problems of the other definitions (& why should we sacrifice to protect beings)

Question 40

Which god does Euthyphro compare himself to?

Answer 40

Zeus, for did not Zeus punish his own father.

Question 41

What is divine command theory?

Answer 41

An ethical framework where what is good is determined by gods commands & what is bad is determined by what gods forbids.

Question 42

what happens at the end of the Euthyphro dialogue?

Answer 42

He walks away.

Question 43

At the beginning of the Apology, which dead person does Socrates say he fears the most?

Answer 43

Aristophanes

Question 44

what does the Oracle at Delphi tell Chaerephon about Socrates?

Answer 44

there is no man wiser than Socrates

Question 45

How does Socrates refute the idea he corrupts the youth?

Answer 45

No one deliberately corrupts; no one knowingly does wrong.

Question 46

How does Socrates refute the idea that he’s impious?

Answer 46

Socrates believes in his daemon or his spirit. Spirits are the children of gods. Therefore, he believed in gods.

Question 47

Which philosopher does Meletus confuse Socrates with?

Answer 47

Anaxagoras; Meletus says Socrates believed that the sun is a fiery rock.

Question 48

Why does Socrates compare himself to an insect?

Answer 48

A gadfly; he’s pestering Athenians to do right as their conscience.

Question 49

Why does Socrates compare Athens to a horse?

Answer 49

It has gotten lazy & stubborn & needs to get up & do great things again.

Question 50

Why does Socrates say he doesn’t fear death?

Answer 50

It is arrogant to be afraid of the unknown. Death is either eternal sleep or there is an afterlife for the just, where he can philosophize w/ the heroes of Greek society

Question 51

What is worse for Socrates; death or disgrace?

Answer 51

disgrace

Question 52

What is the jury’s verdict?

Answer 52

guilty

Question 53

How does Socrates say he should be punished?

Answer 53

(1) treated like an Olympian (free meals) (2) let him go (3) pay a fine

Question 54

How does the jury sentence Socrates? (How does he die?)

Answer 54

death via Hemlock

Question 55

Who is the dog of Egypt?

Answer 55

Anubis

Question 56

Which god does the Oracle represent?

Answer 56

Apollo

Question 57

In your opinion, is Socrates innocent or guilty?

Answer 57

(look on notes for answer)