PHIL 230 Final Exam ACTUAL
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
Which of the following individuals was not present for the final conversation with Socrates, as it is
recorded in the Phaedo? - CORRECT ANSWER Plato
According to Plato, true knowledge can be gained only by means of - CORRECT ANSWER
sense experience
The truest knowledge for Plato is knowledge of - CORRECT ANSWER the forms
The main division in Plato's epistemology, illustrated in the "divided line," is between - CORRECT
ANSWER visible vs. intelligible
Why does Plato argue that the soul is simple in the Phaedo? - CORRECT ANSWER soul is
absolutely simple (uncompound) because it is unchanging, and therefore it is indestructible. The soul
is unchanging because it is divine, sharing kinship to the objects it knows
What activity or belief does Socrates justify to his students by reference to a recurring dream? -
CORRECT ANSWER practice and cultivate the arts
Why does Socrates reject suicide in Plato's Phaedo? - CORRECT ANSWER • We are the God's
possessions.
• There is a time to do it and a time no to do it ( "....it is not unreasonable that one should not kill
oneself before a God had indicated some necessity to do so, like the necessity now put upon us" (62
C).
• We will make the Gods angry if we do it.
• We would be angry and punish our own possessions if they killed themselves without a sign from us.
Thus, we shouldn't kill ourselves.
• Gods will treat their possessions as we do.
• We don't want to incur the wrath of God.
Which of the following is claimed in Simmias' "attunement theory?" - CORRECT ANSWER
, How does Socrates refute the attunement theory? - CORRECT ANSWER The Theory of
Recollection shows that the soul must have existed before birth, but the attunement of an instrument
cannot possibly exist before the instrument is made. Simmias acknowledges this contradiction, and
accordingly withdraws his objection.
Why is the "weaver analogy" of Cebes a stronger challenge to Socrates than the attunement theory? -
CORRECT ANSWER
Which of the following claims is not made by Socrates in his final argument for the immortality of the
soul? - CORRECT ANSWER argument from opposites
theory of recollection
argument from affinity
Why does Socrates tell Crito that a debt is owed to Asclepius just before he dies? - CORRECT
ANSWER Asclepius was the Greek god for curing illness, and it is likely Socrates' last words
meant that death is the cure—and freedom, of the soul from the body.
The terms "mimesis" and "methexis" play which of the following roles in Plato's philosophy? -
CORRECT ANSWER mimesis: imitation
methexis: participation
beauty, like likes like
Why must one so often rely on allegory and analogy when discussing the soul, according to Plato? -
CORRECT ANSWER
How is Plato's epistemology related to his metaphysics? - CORRECT ANSWER He soon
developed an elaborated and one-of-a-kind metaphysical theory to support his ethics. His
metaphysics, in turn, supported his epistemology. One can simply say that Platonic epistemology,
ethics and metaphysics are intermingled.
Which of the following was probably not one of Descartes' reasons for writing the Meditations? -
CORRECT ANSWER To convince himself of his own essence
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
Which of the following individuals was not present for the final conversation with Socrates, as it is
recorded in the Phaedo? - CORRECT ANSWER Plato
According to Plato, true knowledge can be gained only by means of - CORRECT ANSWER
sense experience
The truest knowledge for Plato is knowledge of - CORRECT ANSWER the forms
The main division in Plato's epistemology, illustrated in the "divided line," is between - CORRECT
ANSWER visible vs. intelligible
Why does Plato argue that the soul is simple in the Phaedo? - CORRECT ANSWER soul is
absolutely simple (uncompound) because it is unchanging, and therefore it is indestructible. The soul
is unchanging because it is divine, sharing kinship to the objects it knows
What activity or belief does Socrates justify to his students by reference to a recurring dream? -
CORRECT ANSWER practice and cultivate the arts
Why does Socrates reject suicide in Plato's Phaedo? - CORRECT ANSWER • We are the God's
possessions.
• There is a time to do it and a time no to do it ( "....it is not unreasonable that one should not kill
oneself before a God had indicated some necessity to do so, like the necessity now put upon us" (62
C).
• We will make the Gods angry if we do it.
• We would be angry and punish our own possessions if they killed themselves without a sign from us.
Thus, we shouldn't kill ourselves.
• Gods will treat their possessions as we do.
• We don't want to incur the wrath of God.
Which of the following is claimed in Simmias' "attunement theory?" - CORRECT ANSWER
, How does Socrates refute the attunement theory? - CORRECT ANSWER The Theory of
Recollection shows that the soul must have existed before birth, but the attunement of an instrument
cannot possibly exist before the instrument is made. Simmias acknowledges this contradiction, and
accordingly withdraws his objection.
Why is the "weaver analogy" of Cebes a stronger challenge to Socrates than the attunement theory? -
CORRECT ANSWER
Which of the following claims is not made by Socrates in his final argument for the immortality of the
soul? - CORRECT ANSWER argument from opposites
theory of recollection
argument from affinity
Why does Socrates tell Crito that a debt is owed to Asclepius just before he dies? - CORRECT
ANSWER Asclepius was the Greek god for curing illness, and it is likely Socrates' last words
meant that death is the cure—and freedom, of the soul from the body.
The terms "mimesis" and "methexis" play which of the following roles in Plato's philosophy? -
CORRECT ANSWER mimesis: imitation
methexis: participation
beauty, like likes like
Why must one so often rely on allegory and analogy when discussing the soul, according to Plato? -
CORRECT ANSWER
How is Plato's epistemology related to his metaphysics? - CORRECT ANSWER He soon
developed an elaborated and one-of-a-kind metaphysical theory to support his ethics. His
metaphysics, in turn, supported his epistemology. One can simply say that Platonic epistemology,
ethics and metaphysics are intermingled.
Which of the following was probably not one of Descartes' reasons for writing the Meditations? -
CORRECT ANSWER To convince himself of his own essence
