Midterm
In Plato's dialogues every detail is important. In order to interpret the dialogue and understand the philosophy you must pay attention not just to what is said but who says it, where it is said and what is going on around the speakers. The Lysis dialogue takes place in a newly constructed "Palaestra." What is a Palaestra?
A wrestling school or gymnasium
"But still I should like to examine further, for no light matter is at stake, nothing less than the rule of human life." Where does the dialogue lead directly after this statement?
All of these answer options
How does Socrates refute the second definition of justice (using the Elenchus)?
All of these answer options
How does Thrasymachus define the unjust?
All of these answer options
If you fall behind in class, don't worry you can just do some extra credit to catch up t/f
False
If you miss a quiz it can be made up (T/F)
False
If you miss an exam (do not take it at all) you can still pass this class. (T/F)
False
You may turn in your papers late but they will receive a reduced grade t/f
False
Which of the following does Epictetus say is NOT in our control?
Reputation
In section 2 Descartes lays out four rules for his philosophical endeavor, which of the following is NOT one of these?
Revelation: seek divine guidance and direction in coming to any possible solution
Socrates says that his accusers have told many lies about him. However, "of the many lies they told, one in particular surprised me." What is the lie that surprised Socrates?
That he is an accomplished speaker
Causation is not the same as correlation. What feature does a cause have?
A cause contains the power to produce an effect
Why didn't Socrates go into politics?
A little voice in his head said "No"
How does Aristotle define "human good"?
Activity of the soul in accordance with virtue
Cephalus is an old businessman who represents traditional Greek culture. Which of the following is NOT his opinion about becoming old?
All of the best things of life are taken away and other people treat old people badly
Thomas Sowell quotes Freidrich A. Hayek as saying "The particulars of a spontaneous order cannot be just or unjust." Which of the following best matches with what this quote means?
All of these answer options
What does Sowell say about merit?
All of these answer options
What is the "noble lie"?
An account of how human beings are made of different metals that determine their role in society.
According to Sowell which of the following is an example of an injustice that we can do something about?
An unfair process in the system
According to Socrates why does Ion's ability to speak about the poetry of Homer NOT come from knowledge and mastery?
Because if it did then he would also be able to speak about the other poets equally
Which of the following is NOT one of the three abilities of a critic (evaluator of speeches or performances) that is discussed in the dialogue?
Can produce the best examples themselves
Who presented "the most forceful critique of causal knowledge," that is, an expression of the impossibility of knowing what causes something?
David Hume
Why isn't Lysis allowed to do some things?
Deficiency of knowledge
How does Descartes define "reason" or "good sense"?
Distinguishing the true from the false
Which of the following is a definition of one of the 4-causes given by Aristotle? Pick the one best answer.
Ends or purposes of nature
Why has one of the 4-causes of Aristotle, in particular, become less and less acceptable to most members of the scientific community?
Explanations for which no test is appropriate are useless
Aristotle developed an exhaustive list of possible causes for everything. Which of the following is NOT one of the four causes given by Aristotle?
Explanatory cause
You can use your phone during class t/f
False
Why are the questions of philosophy to be studied?
For the sake of the questions themselves.
After meeting Lysis and his friend Menexenus what does Socrates says about friendship?
Friends have all things in common, so that one of you can be no richer than the other
Which of the following BEST presents Socrates's attitude towards death?
He does not know if it is evil
Socrates says that there are two groups of accusers against him; the first and the later. Which group does he say he is most afraid of?
He is most afraid of the first accusers because they have prejudiced the judges.
Lysis says he knows his parents love him and want him to be happy. However, in talking to Socrates what does Lysis admit about the way his parents treat him?
In many ways Lysis lives is treated like a slave
What is the ontological argument?
It is an argument for the existence of god.
Which of the following is NOT one of the possibilities examined by Socrates and Menexenus?
It is impossible for friendship to exist between any types of people
What is the "divided line"?
It represents a hierarchy of two worlds the visible and the intelligible
What definition of justice does Socrates propose?
Justice is wisdom
Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons Crito argues for?
Law: Socrates is not being obedient if he escapes
Which of the following BEST accounts for what Socrates is really trying to do with Athens?
Make the city better
What is the subject or disciple that is presented as being most desirable for education?
Mathematicians
What does Plato say about the equality of the sexes?
Men who are to be rulers will receive a certain kind of education that women who are to be rulers will also receive.
Descartes says, "I have formed a method that gives me the means, as I think, of gradually augmenting my knowledge ... My present design, then, is not to teach the method which each ought to follow for the right conduct of his reason." What does Descartes say is his "purpose" here?
Merely to show how he has conducted his own reason
What is the result of the noble lie supposed to be?
Need correct answer but I think is "Make citizens care more for the country and for each other"
Based on your reading which of the following do you think Plato most agrees with?
Organize society and education according to the fact that: Most people are mundane, some are excellent and a few are elite
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Which of the following best follows from this statement?
People should be treated as individuals not as members of groups, they should be judged by their own actions and not the actions of their group
According to Epictetus what is it that disturbs people?
Principles and notions about things
After a long and excellent education Descartes says "I found myself involved in so many doubts and errors, that I was convinced I had advanced no farther in all my attempts at learning, than the discovery at every turn of my own ignorance." Which of the following best describes Descartes condition?
Socratic Wisdom
"Is not he who can best strike a blow in a boxing match or in any kind of fighting best able to ward off a blow? And he who is most skillful in preventing or escaping from a disease is best able to create one?" Which of the following best matches Socrates's point?
The best people, the richest, most talented or strongest are also the people most capable of being evil and harming others.
What fear motivates the good ruler to run for office and spend time governing?
The consequences of a bad ruler
As part of his defense Socrates appeals, in a roundabout way, to a character witness. Who is the character witness that Socrates says can explain his behavior?
The god at Delphi
Which of the following is NOT one of the three levels of instruction that Epictetus introduces?
The novice learner is at the level of instruction where they are able to recognize fault but are not able to properly attribute it
Which kind of government does Socrates say is the best? Pick the one best option.
The one where the rulers are most reluctant to govern
Who does Socrates argue you should listen to when trying to make a decision?
The one who knows like a doctor or trainer.
To address the issue of Ion's ability but lack of knowledge or mastery Socrates uses an analogy to magnets. What is this meant to explain?
The power of the muses goes out to the poets, then to the interpreters and then to the audience
Socrates anthropomorphizes the Laws of Athens in order to have a discussion with them. Based on this discussion what do we learn about?
The social contract
Epictetus repeatedly makes reference to "the vulgar" in comparison to the philosopher or "the proficient." Which of the following is the defining feature of the vulgar individual?
They take no responsibility, they expect all benefits and harms to come from externals
What does Epictetus say is the "essence of good"?
Things in our own control
Descartes says there are two kind of people, or rather two kinds of minds which his project of "striping one's self of all past beliefs ... ought not to be taken." Which of the following are these two kinds of minds?
Those that believe themselves more capable than they really are AND those who follow the opinions of others
Who do the people chained for their whole lives staring at shadows on a cave wall best represent?
We the uneducated normal people of the world
Scruton says that philosophy can be approached in two ways. Which of those ways does he say is the only way will use in his book?
b. Philosophy can be approached by doing it
Scruton gives five features of scientific method. Which of the following is NOT one of these?
b. Science gives absolute answers that are true in all cases
"The causal principle holds that events can be seen as the effects of causes that must be both _________, and a system of such interconnected causes and effects is called a causal nexus." What best fills the blank?
necessary and sufficient
Which of the following best summarizes Euthyphro's first attempt to teach Socrates?
"Do what I am doing now"
In Martin Luther King's 1963 speech he says, "In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force." What does this mean?
All of these answer options
Which of the following is an example of "the quest for cosmic justice"?
All of these answer options
Which of the following is an example of the Law of Unintended Consequences?
All of these answer options
In the dialogue of Euthyphro, there is a deep issue in the background. Which of the following best captures that issue?
All of these answer options (1- there must be standard of goodness, 2- reason and dialogue helps us to know what is right to do, 3- we can be mislead into thinking we are righteous and ethical by unclear thinking, 4- and only because of the divine there are moral and ethical considerations at all.)
What does Epictetus say is the consequence "if you suppose that only to be your own which is your own, and what belongs to others such as it really is"?
All of these answer options (no one will hurt you, you will have no enemies, no one will compel you, you will do nothing against your will, you will accuse no one)
Why does Socrates say, "Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him (p. 15-16)?" Pick the best answer.
Because as the prisoner comes up out of the cave into greater degrees of light his eyes at first will not be properly adjusted and the objects will be difficult to see.
Why must rulers be rewarded with either money or honor?
Because only then will they have an incentive to make others better
"For the man of education will seek exactness so far in each subject as the nature of the thing admits." What does Aristotle mean?
Being educated means knowing that not every subject can be precise in its conclusions.
What is the conclusion of the discussion of exercising in the nude?
Conventions change, what was once ridiculed can become beautiful
When Euthyphro meets Socrates what is he on his way to do?
Euthyphro is on his way to court to prosecute a murder case against his own father.
What led Descartes to "image that all things, to the knowledge of which man is competent, are mutually connected ... there is nothing so far removed from us as to be beyond our reach, or so hidden that we cannot discover it, provided only we abstain from accepting the false for the true."
Geometry
What do we learn, at the end of the dialogue, should be valued more than anything else?
Goodness
"Now since the ends are plainly many, and of these we choose some with a view to others (wealth, for instance ...), it is clear that all are not final: but the Chief Good is manifestly something final; and so, if there is some one only which is final this must be the object of our search." According to Aristotle what is the final end or purpose of humans?
Happiness
What happens to Thrasymachus when Socrates says "Then the just has turned out to be wise and good and the unjust evil and ignorant"?
He blushes
Why does Socrates seem so frustrating, ironic and maybe even annoying (kind of a jerk)?
He this is what he does to match the arrogance, pride and stubbornness of his interlocutors, those he is talking to
At the end, what does Socrates say is the outcome for him?
I know nothing
"Now, that which imparts truth to the known and the power of knowing to the knower is what I would have you term the ____________." What best fills the blank?
Idea of the good
What ironic, if not contradictory position, does Socrates get Ion to agree to at the end?
Ion is not as good a critic of everything Homer says as somebody who is actually a master (has the knowledge) of the subject Homer addresses, e.g., chariot driving.
What is the first definition of justice, appealed to by Cephalus, and refuted by Socrates?
Justice is telling the truth and returning what one has borrowed (honoring contracts)
"I went to one of those reputed wise ... when I examined this man ... I thought that he appeared wise to many people and especially to himself, but he was not. I then tried to show him that he thought himself wise, but that he was not. As a result he came to dislike me, and so did many of the bystanders." What are the three groups of "wise men" that Socrates examined?
Politicians, poets and craftsmen
"With people across virtually the entire ideological spectrum [liberal/progressive, conservative, libertarian] being offended by inequalities and their consequences, why do these inequalities persist?"
The costs of direct political equalization of economic results are judged to be too high
What does Thrasymachus NOT say about his definition of justice?
The just is the advantage of the good person over the evil person
Which of the following does Sowell explicitly reject as the cause of both "fatherless families" and high unemployment rates for "Black Americans"?
The legacy of slavery and the evil consequences of its racial heritage
During the conversation between Lysis and Socrates it is concluded that the existence of love depends on something. What is it said that love depend on for existence?
Usefulness
Interpret this idea from Aristotle: Virtue, then, is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean.
Virtue is a kind of behavior that is an average or middle way between other behaviors.
What is Glaucon's point in recounting the story about the Ring of Gyges?
We are only good or just, or conditioned to be so, because we think somebody is watching
