philosophy multiple choice

Epictetus says that we can be assured of happiness and freedom if we remember always to make one crucial distinction. What is it? a. The distinction between primary and secondary qualities. b. What is in our control (beliefs and desires) from what is not in our control (events in the world). c. The natural from the necessary. d. God's will from our will.

B

The "One" of Parmenides is a. in continual flux and opposition. b. unchanging, all alike, and eternal. c. identical in concept with the Boundless of Anaximander, which spins the many out of its own substance. d. a useful fiction that unifies the many diverse things in the universe.

B

A Stoic a. believes that our happiness or unhappiness is entirely within our own control. b. would say "grin and bear it," no matter how unhappy something makes you. c. cares for nothing but his or her own freedom and happiness. d. prefers nothing, shuns nothing, and is indifferent to everything.

A

How does Anaximander explain the origin of the many things in our experience? a. By positing a cosmic swirl or vortex that spins like things together. b. By a theory of evolution. c. By an appeal to one god who is unlike us in any way. d. By an infinite regress argument.

A

Anaximander's argument for the Boundless as that out of which all things come a. appeals to the infinite quality of the gods. b. assumes that observable features of the world can be explained in terms of nature. c. holds that justification never ends. d. identifies the Boundless with the gods of Homer's poems.

B

Socrates is unlike the Sophists in that a. he took very little pay for his teaching, and as a result remained poor, while they grew rich. b. he was interested in the question of human excellence. c. the youth of Athens sought out his company. d. he did not think that winning was the main goal of dialectic

D

Suppose I do something wrong but offer an excuse. Which of these excuses, if true, would be acceptable, according to Aristotle? a. It served my interests. b. The devil made me do it. c. I did it to Jones because Jones did it to me. d. I was ignorant of relevant facts through no fault of my own

D

The argument for God's existence from motion a. claims that every change is a transition from actuality to potentiality. b. assumes that something can be simultaneously both potentially hot and actually hot. c. assumes that changes can be traced back to infinity. d. argues that without a first mover there would be no immediate movers.

D

A Stoic thinks that we should a. seek happiness more than virtue. b. never seek pleasure as an end. c. always be virtuous, since virtue produces the greatest pleasure if we aim at virtue and not the pleasure. d. be skeptical of all claims to know what virtue is.

B

The main thing Socrates wants Euthyphro to teach him is a. why it is just to prosecute a slave for murder. b. why the gods quarrel. c. what makes something pious. d. the form of justice.

C

Xenophanes says about truth that a. humans have never known it and will never know it. b. it was revealed to us long ago. c. even if we knew it, we couldn't know for sure that we knew it. d. if we seek it and do not rely on the stories of the poets then we will find it.

C

For Plato, a just person a. may have a rough time in life but will be admired by all in the end. b. may or may not be a happy person. c. is the person considered by a community to be just. d. is a happy person

D

In discussions with others, Socrates a. held that victory would go to the best speaker. b. used the arts of rhetoric as taught by the Sophists. c. asked questions but would answer none. d. held that he was happy to be refuted

D

Parmenides is rightly called a rationalist because a. he rationalizes, and thereby deceives himself about the truth. b. he gives reasons explaining all things, even change and motion. c. unlike his predecessors, he was a rational person. d. he is willing to follow a rational argument wherever it leads—reason alone will lead to truth.

D

Thomas Aquinas a. depends on Anselm's ontological argument to buttress faith with reason. b. relies on Aristotle's Unmoved Mover as God. c. thinks that God's existence must be accepted on faith alone. d. holds that we are not in the right epistemological position to use Anselm's argument.

D

Unlike Plotinus, Augustine holds that a. all of being streams incessantly in an eternal emanation from the One. b. our relation to God is a mystical one that involves the flight of the alone to the Alone. c. worldly things differ from each other in both being and goodness. d. God created the universe.

D

In the Myth of the Cave, a. the prisoners represent all of us before we begin to search for wisdom. b. the prisoners are forced to look directly at the fire, though that hurts their eyes. c. the exit represents access to the visible world, lighted by the sun. d. no one who escapes and sees reality as it is would ever return to that dismal place.

A

Augustine claims to be able to refute skepticism by a. arguing that God would not deceive us. b. showing that the supposition that we could be mistaken about everything is absurd for we cannot doubt our existence. c. pursuing the skeptic's infinite regress all the way to its end. d. appealing directly to Christ, the Interior Teacher.

B

Epicurus thinks an important key to happiness lies in natural science because a. it leads to technological breakthroughs that enhance life in the Garden. b. it can show us that some of our fears about the gods and about death are unfounded. c. knowledge is something that is good in and of itself. d. we should aim to keep our wills in harmony with nature.

B

God, Aristotle says, a. cares for his creatures as a father cares for his child. b. functions as the final cause for the universe. c. functions as the efficient cause for the universe. d. is a moved unmover.

B

Epicurean Hedonism a. recommends pursuing every pleasure, so as to maximize happiness in life. b. is a doctrine that disparages pleasure and recommends virtue as the key to happiness. c. is compatible with denying oneself many pleasures. d. has nothing to say about pain, fear, or sorrow.

C

Forms are related to visible things by being a. mirror images of them. b. ideas of them in our minds. c. their cause and explanation d. identical with the class of things having something in common with a given thing.

C

Knowledge, according to Plato, a. is true belief justified by an intuition of The Good. b. is perception. c. is a belief justified by induction. d. is any true belief

C

Pleasure, for Aristotle, is a. never to be sought as an end. b. the end by which humans are naturally motivated. c. unsuitable as the principle end for rational creatures. d. never a byproduct of virtue.

C

The Form of the Good a. is explained by Plato in terms of still other Forms. b. is the one and only Form that can be seen with the naked eye. c. is the ultimate justification for our beliefs and "beyond being." d. is located by Plato at the absolute center of the Divided Line

C

The oracle at Delphi told Socrates' friend that a. Socrates was the wisest sophist. b. Socrates should spend his life questioning the Athenians about virtue. c. no one was wiser than Socrates. d. only the god was wise.

C

We do not need to fear the gods, Epicurus says, because a. the gods are by nature loving and kind. b. there are no gods. c. when we are, death is not, and when death is, we are not. d. the gods are uninterested in us.

C

When Protagoras says that man is the measure of all things, he means that a. it is only man, of all the animals, that has devised measures for distance, weight, temperature. b. what exists must be measured by what all men have in common. c. objectivity is nothing more than intersubjective agreement among people. d. measuring is important to man for building all sorts of things

C

Aristotle explains change in terms of a. atoms and the void. b. flux and opposition. c. the vortex motion of the universe. d. actuality and potentiality.

D

What does Epicurus think of the pleasure produced by vain desires? a. Because they are the most intense, they are the most worthy of pursuit. b. Because they are natural and necessary they are worthy of pursuit. c. Because they are moderate they are not worthy of pursuit. d. Because they are likely to produce more pain than pleasure over a lifetime they are not worthy of pursuit.

D

When Stoics advise us to keep our wills in harmony with nature, they a. mean that if something feels natural to us, then we can feel confident that it is right. b. mean to deny God. c. contradict Plato and Aristotle, who emphasize living in accord with the law. d. are, in effect, advising us to do our duty.

D

With respect to the question, "Does a criterion of truth exist?" Sextus Empiricus a. agrees with Xenophanes that it does not. b. claims that an infinite regress is the only criterion available. c. engages in circular reasoning to prove the existence of a criterion. d. suspends judgment.

D

Nature is purposive, Aristotle says, in virtue of a. the plan God had in mind when he created nature. b. the intentions that reside in every nature-fact. c. the entelechy resident in things. d. the fact that we use nature for our own purposes.

c

What does it mean when the skeptic recommends that we "suspend judgment?" a. To refrain from committing ourselves to certainty b. To refrain from committing to beliefs about values while maintaining true beliefs about facts. c. That we can no longer live according to appearances, including the customs of our culture. d. That we should become nihilists

A

What one objection does Epicurus have to the atomism of Democritus? a. He objects to the mechanical necessity that holds sway over the Democritean universe. b. He objects to the Democritean belief that atoms are indivisible. c. He objects to the enchanted view of nature held by Democritus. d. He objects to the Democritean belief that atoms are infinite in number.

A

According to Epicurus, someone who thinks happiness is pleasure with the absence of pain will a. be unjust to others. b. indulge his or her every desire. c. be an untrustworthy friend. d. be content with having moderate pleasures.

B

Aquinas holds that reason and revelation a. are irreconcilably in conflict. b. are two compatible sources of truth. c. cannot deal with the same topics. d. both depend on faith for their validation.

B

Aristotle differs from Plato in a. believing that knowledge is different from opinion. b. holding that physical objects are as real as anything can be. c. that he values wisdom less. d. being more interested in otherwordly things than Plato is.

B

In Aristotle's thinking, the first principles of a science are a. known by intuition. b. proved certain by experience. c. proved to be true through syllogistic reasoning. d. unknowable.

B

Knowing something, according to Plato, a. requires having evidence provided by your senses. b. puts you in touch with reality, the Forms, the objects of knowledge. c. is the result of persuasion. d. means it is very unlikely that you are mistaken about it, though that is always possible.

B

The new science of Galileo a. seems to require a distinction between primary and secondary qualities. b. shows how final causes actually work. c. puts the earth in the center of the universe. d. shows Plato was correct about the Forms.

B

The paradox of the Third Man a. is resolved by Plato, who shows decisively that it poses no danger to his views. b. arises from principles to which Plato is deeply committed and thereby puts those principles in question. c. proves that Plato's doctrine of the Forms is correct. d. involves at least three male human beings.

B

. Happiness, according to Plato, is a. a matter of how you feel. b. determined by how many of your desires are satisfied. c. a condition of harmony among the parts of the soul. d. something even a bad person can experience.

C

According to Aristotle how does theoretical reason differ from practical reason? a. Theoretical reason is less than certain while practical reason can be certain. b. Ethics is known by theoretical reason. c. Theoretical reason yields certainty while practical reason does not. d. Theoretical reason is the kind of wisdom that Socrates possessed.

C

Anselm's "ontological" argument for the existence of God a. begins with easily observable facts about the world. b. moves from the premise that "I exist" to the conclusion that "God exists." c. purports to establish that "there is no God" is self-contradictory. d. begins with the idea that every event has a cause.

C

Aristotle defines happiness (eudaemonia) as a. harmony in the soul. b. a feeling of excellence (arete) pervading the soul. c. the activity of the soul in accord with reason in a complete life. d. that which makes one feel good about oneself.

C

Aristotle defines truth as a. the end-product of human inquiry. b. what fits with common sense. c. to say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not, is true. d. to say of what is not that it is not, or of what is that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is not, and of what is not that it is, is true.

C

Democritus says that sweet and bitter exist "by convention." By this he means that a. if we came to agree that they didn't exist, they would disappear. b. the words "sweet" and "bitter" (or their Greek equivalents) were deliberately agreed to. c. their nature depends as much on us as on the things themselves. d. convention is an avenue to the real.

C

According to Aristotle, a statement is a. like a prayer. b. necessarily composed of three or more terms. c. like knowledge, always true. d. composed of a subject and predicate which correspond to the substance and its attributes.

D

According to Aristotle, soul is a. the unique capacity of rational creatures. b. a primary substance. c. common to all nature-facts. d. to the body as vision is to the eye, i.e., soul is the function of the body.

D

According to Heraclitus, what is wisdom? a. Minding your own business and being content with what you have. b. Satisfying your every desire. c. Recognizing that life in this world is only a dream. d. Understanding the logos that steers all things through all things.

D

According to Plato, education is a. supplying the facts so that students can reach their own conclusions. b. everyone's job. c. valuable because it pays off in the acquisition of marketable skills. d. turning the soul of the student toward Truth, Beauty, and Goodness

D

An dogmatic skeptic will a. assert that nothing can be known. b. assert that we know only the contents of our own minds. c. suspend judgment about what reality is like. d. refuse to ever ask "why."

D

Augustine solves the problem of natural evil by a. feeding the hungry and providing for the poor. b. accepting that there is, has always been, and always will be an evil power in conflict with the good. c. arguing that without evil there couldn't be any good. d. denying that evil is a positive reality.

D

Happiness, says the Skeptic, a. is unavailable to humans, because knowledge is unavailable. b. must be founded on sure and certain understanding of the true nature of reality. c. is available only to those who have gone through the pangs of skeptical doubt and emerge into the clear light of knowledge. d. is a byproduct of giving up of the demand to know.

D

In Aristotle's account of the four causes, a. the efficient cause of the world is God. b. a final cause is pure potentiality. c. the formal cause is pure potentiality. d. the material cause explains the individuality of things

D

Plato tells us the Form of the Good is like the sun in a. dazzling our eyes when we first look at it. b. being located at the extreme end of the visible world on the Divided Line. c. no way whatsoever. d. being to truth and knowledge what the sun is to light and sight

D

The objects of knowledge, Plato says are a. things you can see and touch. b. the things believed in by everyone in your culture. c. items in flux, continually changing from moment to moment. d. perfect intelligible realities that are eternal and unchanging, beyond space and time, known only by the mind's eye.

D

The soul, Plato tells us has three distinct parts. One of the parts is a. the ego, which is the reality principle. b. the id, which is the seat of desires present in every soul and the source of eros. c. the superego, or conscience. d. reason, which guides

D

Virtue, Aristotle says, is defined by a mean relative to us. He means that a. facts about an individual and his or her context help determine what one should do. b. we all have different values. c. if you think an action is the right thing to do, there is no one who can say you are wrong. d. there are no virtues common to all.

D