midterm

Question 1

What is the definition of philosophy?

Answer 1

The love of wisdom. The purpose is to help us make sense of the world, critically engage with it, and live lives that are more thoughtful, meaningful, and virtuous.

Question 2

What are the main divisions of reality according to Aristotle?

Answer 2

All substances are made up of two principles: form and matter.

Question 3

What is form in Aristotle’s philosophy?

Answer 3

The essence or nature of a thing, its defining characteristics that make it what it is.

For example, the form of a statue is the shape it takes, and the form of a person is the soul or rational nature that defines them as human.

Question 4

What is matter in Aristotle’s philosophy?

Answer 4

The substrate or material out of which something is made. It is the potentiality that takes on form.

Question 5

What is Prime Matter?

Answer 5

The underlying, indeterminate potential that, in combination with form, becomes a specific substance. It is pure potential and has no identity until it is shaped by form.

Question 6

What are Aristotle’s Four Causes?

Answer 6

Material cause, efficient cause, formal cause, and final cause.

Question 7

What is the material cause?

Answer 7

The form of which something is made.

For example, my sweatshirt is made out of cotton.

Question 8

What is the efficient cause?

Answer 8

That by which something is made.

An example would be creating a child.

Question 9

What is the formal cause?

Answer 9

What is it? What is the pattern?

For example, if someone points at a structure, you ask what is it? A statue.

Question 10

What is the final cause?

Answer 10

Why is it being made?

For example, why did they make an elevator? So people can get up many floors of stairs efficiently.

Question 11

What is Aristotle’s theory of change?

Answer 11

Change is the realization of potential, and substances undergo different kinds of change in their attributes.

Question 12

What are the three elements of change according to Aristotle?

Answer 12

Form, privation, and substrate.

Question 13

What is the nurturing soul?

Answer 13

Present in all living beings, responsible for nutrition, growth, and reproduction.

Question 14

What is the sensitive soul?

Answer 14

Present in animals (and humans), responsible for sensation, movement, and desire.

Question 15

What is the rational soul?

Answer 15

Unique to humans, responsible for reasoning, intellect, and higher-order cognitive functions.

Question 16

What is the concept of an ultimate end in Aristotle’s philosophy?

Answer 16

The final purpose or goal that everything in nature strives toward, which is the good life achieved through the cultivation of virtue and rational activity.

Question 17

What are the goods of the body?

Answer 17

Health, physical strength, basic needs, pleasures.

Question 18

What are the goods of the soul?

Answer 18

Intellectual virtue, moral virtue, wisdom, friendship, and relationships.

Question 19

What are the three dimensions of the human person according to Aristotle?

Answer 19

The body, the soul, and the rational aspect of the soul.

Question 20

What is the role of government according to Aristotle?

Answer 20

To promote the common good, maintain order, and facilitate human flourishing.

Question 21

What is learning by abstraction in Aristotle’s philosophy?

Answer 21

The process by which we derive universal concepts from individual sensory experiences.

Question 22

What are the three levels of thinking?

Answer 22

Sense perception, imagination, and rational thinking.

Question 23

What is simple apprehension?

Answer 23

Sensing.

Question 24

What is composition and division?

Answer 24

True and false judgment.

Question 25

What is reasoning?

Answer 25

Connecting to the universe.

Question 26

What is the Euthyphro Dilemma?

Answer 26

A challenge to the idea that moral standards could simply be based on the gods' will, suggesting true morality must be rational and based on a stable, objective standard.

Question 27

What are Plato’s Forms?

Answer 27

Perfect and eternal entities that exist in a non-material realm, the ultimate reality behind the physical world.

Question 28

What is eternal law according to St. Augustine?

Answer 28

The perfect, unchanging, divine law that governs all of creation and is known through God's wisdom.

Question 29

What is temporal law according to St. Augustine?

Answer 29

The law created by humans to govern society, which is subject to change and can be just or unjust.

Question 30

What is Augustine's idea of evil's origin?

Answer 30

Evil arises from the misuse of free will, where created beings choose to reject or distort the good that comes from God.

Question 31

What are the types of evil according to Augustine?

Answer 31

Natural evil and moral evil.

Question 32

What is thin learning?

Answer 32

Basic or superficial knowledge learned without a deep connection to personal values or the broader context of life.

Question 33

What is thick learning?

Answer 33

Deep, reflective learning tied to moral and spiritual growth, integrating knowledge with one's life and values.

Question 34

What are the goods which cannot be lost against one’s will?

Answer 34

Spiritual and internal goods, such as virtues like wisdom, love, and the grace of God.