Philosophy of Human Nature
Midterm Exam Review Sheet
I. Vocabulary
Academy
Apologia : A formal written defense of ones opinion
Aporia : irresolvable internal contradiction or logical disjunction in an argument
Aretē : virtue or excellence
Elenchus : the socratic method, or socratic debate
Epistemology : the theory of knowledge, investigation of what distinguishes belief from
opinon
Eudaimonia : a state of happiness
Hylomorphism : (aristotle) conceives being as a compound of matter and form
Incontinence (akrasia) : the state of mind in which someone acts against their better
judgment through weakness of will
Lyceum : name of gymnasium in athens dedicated to Apollo
Metaphysics : the branch of philosophy that deals with the first principals of things(being,
knowing, substance, identity, time and space)
Peripatetic : the peripatetic school of aristotle
Philosophy (Philo and Sophia) : the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge,
reality, and existence
Sophist : a paid teacher of philosophy and rhetoric; a person who reasons with clever
but fallacious arguments
Teleology: the doctrine that final causes exist
II. Questions to Consider
1. What is the ‘Socratic problem’?
the term for the situation in the history of scholarship with respect to the existing
materia pertaining to the individual known as Socrates which scholars rely upon
as the only extant sources for knowing anything at all about this individual, but
when compared, show contradictions and do not agree.
The Socratic problem results from the inability to determine what, in the writings
of Plato, is an accurate portrayal ofSocrates' thought and what is the thought of
Plato with Socrates as a literary device.
2. Describe Socrates’ method of philosophizing.
Asking questions, instead of just lecturing Socrates never put forth his own ideas,
he always ask others to teach him about their own beliefs
3. What are the charges against which Socrates defends himself in the
Apology, both the official charges and the ‘initial’ ones he deals with first?
"Socrates is guilty of refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state and
introducing other, new divinities. He is also guilty of corrupting the youth.
1. What arguments does Socrates use to criticize the ‘official charges’ in the
Apology?
Socrates questions Meletus, what good influence is and uses a horse and a horse
trainor as an example. Socrates also argues that if he wants to cause harm on
society, he will also end up harming himself. Finally, Socrates argues that he does
believe in gods because he believes in the supernatural.
, 2. What is the significance of the story of the oracle at Delphi in the Apology?
The oracle deemed Socrates as the wisest man in Athens, and Socrates tries to argue
against that by going to professionals and interrogating them. He finds out that
these professionals do not know anything at all, and are ignorant. He recognizes his
own ignorance, thus making him the wisest.
3. What conclusions does Socrates come to concerning wisdom in the
Apology? How do humility and ignorance figure in here?
Socrates found men who truly did have great wisdom in their craft, but invariably,
they seemed to think that their expertise in one field allowed them to speak
authoritatively in many other fields, about which they knew nothing. In each case,
Socrates affirmed that he would rather be as he is, knowing that he knows nothing,
than to be inflated by a false sense of his own great wisdom. Thus, he concludes, he
truly is wiser than other men because he does not think he knows what he does not
know.
4. What is Socrates’ view on death in the Apology? Should we fear it?
Explain.
He believes that the difficulty is not to outrun death, but to outrun wickedness,
because death is inevitable while wickedness is not. Therefore he would rather be
outrun by death, and gladly accepts his sentence.
5. How does Socrates explain vice? Can one knowingly act wrongly, on
Socrates’ view? If not, why not? Does Plato agree? How about Aristotle?
6. What are some of the definitions of ‘piety’ that Euthyphro puts forward in
the dialogue named after him, and how does Socrates go about refuting them?
What is Socrates after in this dialogue, and why?
Some definitions of piety that Euthyphro uses is: what is dear to the gods (O:
according to E, gods disagree on moral matters. Some things will be dear to them
while some wont. This some things will and will not be pious.) 2. Pious is loved by
all the gods: if pious can be defined as god beloved, then these terms can replace
eachother(The gods love the pious because it is pious. The gods love the pious
because it is god loved. It doesn’t make sense.) 3. Prosecuting wrongdoers whoever
they are (O: This is not a definition of piety, rather an instance of it) 4. The part of
justice that is concerned with the care of the gods (O: The concept of care is
unclear) 5. Saying and doing what is pleasing to the gods at prayer and sacrifice (O:
Since gods don’t benefit from what we do, it is repeating the idea of number 2.
7. Explain the significance of this question from the Euthyphro: “Is the pious
being loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is being
loved by the gods?” (p. 12)
This argument states that solely the Gods or some kind of divine authority
determines the idea of morality. Is something “good” because the Gods think it is
good, or do the Gods approve of something only because it is “good”? These are
almost like contradicting statements and there is really no way to find out which is
true or if the two are even equivalent. They are two different trains of thought. One
the one hand, we can accept that something is holy simply because it is approved, or
we can believe that something is approved because it is holy.
Midterm Exam Review Sheet
I. Vocabulary
Academy
Apologia : A formal written defense of ones opinion
Aporia : irresolvable internal contradiction or logical disjunction in an argument
Aretē : virtue or excellence
Elenchus : the socratic method, or socratic debate
Epistemology : the theory of knowledge, investigation of what distinguishes belief from
opinon
Eudaimonia : a state of happiness
Hylomorphism : (aristotle) conceives being as a compound of matter and form
Incontinence (akrasia) : the state of mind in which someone acts against their better
judgment through weakness of will
Lyceum : name of gymnasium in athens dedicated to Apollo
Metaphysics : the branch of philosophy that deals with the first principals of things(being,
knowing, substance, identity, time and space)
Peripatetic : the peripatetic school of aristotle
Philosophy (Philo and Sophia) : the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge,
reality, and existence
Sophist : a paid teacher of philosophy and rhetoric; a person who reasons with clever
but fallacious arguments
Teleology: the doctrine that final causes exist
II. Questions to Consider
1. What is the ‘Socratic problem’?
the term for the situation in the history of scholarship with respect to the existing
materia pertaining to the individual known as Socrates which scholars rely upon
as the only extant sources for knowing anything at all about this individual, but
when compared, show contradictions and do not agree.
The Socratic problem results from the inability to determine what, in the writings
of Plato, is an accurate portrayal ofSocrates' thought and what is the thought of
Plato with Socrates as a literary device.
2. Describe Socrates’ method of philosophizing.
Asking questions, instead of just lecturing Socrates never put forth his own ideas,
he always ask others to teach him about their own beliefs
3. What are the charges against which Socrates defends himself in the
Apology, both the official charges and the ‘initial’ ones he deals with first?
"Socrates is guilty of refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state and
introducing other, new divinities. He is also guilty of corrupting the youth.
1. What arguments does Socrates use to criticize the ‘official charges’ in the
Apology?
Socrates questions Meletus, what good influence is and uses a horse and a horse
trainor as an example. Socrates also argues that if he wants to cause harm on
society, he will also end up harming himself. Finally, Socrates argues that he does
believe in gods because he believes in the supernatural.
, 2. What is the significance of the story of the oracle at Delphi in the Apology?
The oracle deemed Socrates as the wisest man in Athens, and Socrates tries to argue
against that by going to professionals and interrogating them. He finds out that
these professionals do not know anything at all, and are ignorant. He recognizes his
own ignorance, thus making him the wisest.
3. What conclusions does Socrates come to concerning wisdom in the
Apology? How do humility and ignorance figure in here?
Socrates found men who truly did have great wisdom in their craft, but invariably,
they seemed to think that their expertise in one field allowed them to speak
authoritatively in many other fields, about which they knew nothing. In each case,
Socrates affirmed that he would rather be as he is, knowing that he knows nothing,
than to be inflated by a false sense of his own great wisdom. Thus, he concludes, he
truly is wiser than other men because he does not think he knows what he does not
know.
4. What is Socrates’ view on death in the Apology? Should we fear it?
Explain.
He believes that the difficulty is not to outrun death, but to outrun wickedness,
because death is inevitable while wickedness is not. Therefore he would rather be
outrun by death, and gladly accepts his sentence.
5. How does Socrates explain vice? Can one knowingly act wrongly, on
Socrates’ view? If not, why not? Does Plato agree? How about Aristotle?
6. What are some of the definitions of ‘piety’ that Euthyphro puts forward in
the dialogue named after him, and how does Socrates go about refuting them?
What is Socrates after in this dialogue, and why?
Some definitions of piety that Euthyphro uses is: what is dear to the gods (O:
according to E, gods disagree on moral matters. Some things will be dear to them
while some wont. This some things will and will not be pious.) 2. Pious is loved by
all the gods: if pious can be defined as god beloved, then these terms can replace
eachother(The gods love the pious because it is pious. The gods love the pious
because it is god loved. It doesn’t make sense.) 3. Prosecuting wrongdoers whoever
they are (O: This is not a definition of piety, rather an instance of it) 4. The part of
justice that is concerned with the care of the gods (O: The concept of care is
unclear) 5. Saying and doing what is pleasing to the gods at prayer and sacrifice (O:
Since gods don’t benefit from what we do, it is repeating the idea of number 2.
7. Explain the significance of this question from the Euthyphro: “Is the pious
being loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is being
loved by the gods?” (p. 12)
This argument states that solely the Gods or some kind of divine authority
determines the idea of morality. Is something “good” because the Gods think it is
good, or do the Gods approve of something only because it is “good”? These are
almost like contradicting statements and there is really no way to find out which is
true or if the two are even equivalent. They are two different trains of thought. One
the one hand, we can accept that something is holy simply because it is approved, or
we can believe that something is approved because it is holy.
