STUDY QUESTIONS AND DEFINITIONS

All study questions and definitions must be typed, single-spaced, and they must be

written in your own words. Do not quote from the textbook or any other source.

If your definitions or comments are too close to the wording in the textbook, you will not

receive credit for that response. The object of these assignments is to show me that you

thoroughly understand the material.

All the information requested for each week is found in each week’s reading assignment. If

you use other sources, your answers may be incorrect.

Write in complete, correct sentences. Use formal English. Work that is contains grammatical

and structural errors will receive a lower grade. Work that is characterized by short, choppy, too brief

responses will receive a lower grade.

GUARANTEED WAYS TO LOWER YOUR GRADE FOR THESE ASSIGNMENTS:

Fail to follow the instructions given above.

Looking up definitions on the Internet rather than using the book.

Using the exact or nearly exact wording you find in the book.

Using just one- and two-sentence responses.

Using vague, general responses rather than specific, detailed responses.

No late work will be accepted.

Ch. 5 – The Wise Man: Socrates

Define the following terms:

techne

irony

psyche

virtue

intellectualism

ignorance

Provide comments about the following:

How did Socrates use his physical appearance to support this general theory of virtue?

How does Socrates define self-control?

Explain what “Socrates problem” means.

What is the Socrates Method (often called the Socratic Dialect)?

Explain Socrates’s theory that virtue is knowledge.

Ch. 6 – The Philosopher-King: Plato

Define the following terms:

instrumental theory of morality

functionalist theory of morality

justice

utopia

tyranny

Provide comments about the following:

What was the Academy, how did it get its name, and what was it purpose?

How does Plato distinguish between opinion and knowledge?

What are Forms, and how are they different from ideas?

In his “Allegory of the Cave,” how does Plato use the sun to explain his ideas?

What are the three levels of reality?

What are the cardinal virtues?

What are the parts of the soul and how are they related?

What is the most unjust type of person or state? Why?

Ch. 7 – The Naturalist: Aristotle

Define the following terms:

naturalism

form and matter

character

eudaimonia

sophrosyne

teleological thinking

Provide comments about the following:

Identify and briefly explain the Four Causes.

According to Aristotle, what is the relationship between the body and the soul?

What is “the good”?

What is the highest kind of life?

How do habit and character affect happiness and virtue?

Ch. 9 – The Scholar: Thomas Aquinas

Define the following terms:

Epicureanism

Stoicism

theology

natural theology

revealed theology

Scholasticism

Provide comments about the following:

Why does St. Augustine reject Epicureanism and Stoicism?

What is the law of contradiction, and how is it related to Scholastic philosophy?

What is the principle of plentitude?

Briefly summarize Thomas Aquinas’s Five Proofs of God’s existence.

What is evil, and what is the “problem of evil”?

How does Thomas Aquinas “solve” the problem of evil?

How is Thomas Aquinas influenced by Aristotle?

Ch. 10 – The Rationalist: Rene Descartes

Define the following terms:

rationalism

innate ideas

a priori knowledge

a posteriori knowledge

methodic doubt

coherence theory of truth

ontological argument

materialism

dualism

monism

pluralism

Provide comments about the following:

Explain the meaning of Descartes’s theory, Cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am).

Explain whether Descartes’s standard of truth is mainly psychological or rational.

Define skepticism, as it applies to Descartes’s philosophy.

Ch. 11 – The Skeptic: David Hume

Define the following terms:

skeptic

epistemology

empiricism

tabula rasa

primary qualities

secondary qualities

idealism

egocentric predicament

inductive reasoning

bundle theory of self

empirical criterion of meaning

Provide comments about the following:

How does Hume define the self?

Briefly explain Hume’s analysis of cause and effect.

Ch. 12 – The Universalist: Immanuel Kant

Define the following terms:

moral

immoral

amoral

Kantian formalism

critical philosophy

phenomenal reality

noumenal reality

theoretical reason

practical reason

hypothetical imperative

categorical imperative

practical imperative

Provide comments about the following:

What does Kant mean by “a scandal in philosophy”?

Explain Kant’s concept of the moral dimension.

What does Kant mean by duty?

What is the “kingdom of ends”?

Ch. 13 — The Utilitarian: John Stuart Mill

Define the following terms:

psychological hedonism

ethical hedonism

principle of unity

utilitarianism

altruism

Provide comments about the following:

Explain the “greatest happiness principle.”

How does refined utilitarianism differ from simple utilitarianism?

How does Mil distinguish between happiness and contentment?

Ch. 15 – The Existentialist: Soren Kierkegaard

Define the following terms:

existentialism

inauthenticity

authenticity

leap of faith

Provide comments about the following:

Explain Kierkegaard’s “universal formula.”

Explain Kierkegaard’s concept of “false Christianity.”

What does Kierkegaard mean by “truth is subjectivity”?

What does Kierkegaard mean by “becoming a subject, “and why is this

important to this work as a philosopher?

How are the stages of life related?