PHIL 101 EXAM PRACTICE QUESTIONS
AND CORRECT ANSWERS!!
According to The Philosopher in Sophie's World, most people don't become philosophers.
Metaphorically speaking, most people crawl deep into what?
According to Sophie's world most people climb deep into the rabbit's hair whereas the
philosopher's stay on the tip of the hairs questioning everything. The people in the fur are content
with how life is and don't bother questioning life.
What is the dog's name in Sophie's World? Why?
The dog's name is Hermes because he begins to deliver the philosophers notes and Hermes was
the messenger god according to the greek gods.
In the Locke chapter, the dog does something weird. What?
The dog actually talks to sophie during the Locke chapter.
Who were Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Empedocles, Anaxagorus?, andDemocritus?
How were these philosophers also like scientists?
Thales, Anaximander,Anaxamienes, Empedolces, Anaxgorus, and Democritus are the natural
philosophers because of the fact they used nature like fire and water to justify their meta physics
on how the world worked and what came about.
Who said "Man is the measure of all things"? ('Man' meaning 'a person.') Whatdid this
sentence mean?
Protagoras said "Man is the measure of all things." This means that the individual human being
is the ultimate source of value, as opposed to a god or unchanging moral law.
Explain Parmenides's view of reality (his metaphysics). Make sure you discussthe role of
negative existentials in this philosophy — sentences like "Santa Clausdoes not exist."
Parmenides believed that nothing actually changed and he held to his reason despite the evidence
of his senses,making him the first rationalist.
Negative Existentials- Zeus does not exist, Santa Claus does not exist, Pegasus does not exist,
,Atlantis does not exist, ghosts do not exist BUT the concept of everything does exist
Therefore there are no negative existentials, the world is consistent and definite. There is no
change.
Parmenides view contrasted with Heraclitus's. What was Heraclitus's metaphysics?
Parmenides was the opposite to Heraclitus because Parmenides believed that nothing had
changed but Heraclitus thought everything was changing constantly. This he used a river as an
example to prove his theory correct by saying once you step into a river it will never be the same
river after that due to the ripples that you have created in the water.
Heraclitus believed in his senses and felt that nothing stays the same.
Parmenides had a famous student. What was this student's name?
Zeno of Elea
What great contribution to human thought did this student contribute?
Zeno was known for his paradoxes that prove motion is not possible.
Achilleas and the tortoise- the tortoise is given a head start in a race with achilleas. In the time it
takes for achilleas to catch up to the tortoise, the tortoise has moved forward some distance.
Arrow- an arrow in flight is at a position at a given time (at- at theory)
Dichotomy paradox- in order for Achilleas to move from point A to B, he needs to go halfway,
but before he could go halfway, he'd have to go halfway of that. Since this goes on forever, the
distance could not be traveled.
Is this contribution still with us today, or has it been solved?
The at- at theory of motion is still believed today.
Who did Socrates meet on the Porch of the King Archon?
Euthyphro
What did they discuss? Define it, if only roughly. Did they come to any sort of conclusion?
If so, what was it? Consider the question: Is some act moral because the gods say it is, or do
the gods say it is because the act is moral? Why is this question important?
, Euthyphro and Socrates discussed the meaning of piety. 3 definitions of piety: doing what is just,
what the gods want, what ALL the gods want. At the end, Socrates still insists that he does not
know what piety is and there is no answer to the question. This question is important because
each side consider something completely different in relation to piety.
Why did Socrates kill himself?
Socrates killed himself because he did not believe in fighting the death that he was sentenced to
due to that fact that they believed he was corrupting the youth. He could have lived and just been
exiled however, that would not be like Socrates to take the cowards way out. Being exiled would
have been a slow painful death.
Why was Socrates in the predicament where one option was to kill himself?
Socrates was convicted of corrupting the youth of Athens and introducing strange gods. He was
sentenced to die by drinking poison hemlock or be exiled.
Explain Plato's view of reality, his metaphysics. Make sure you mention thePlatonic Realm
and Platonic Forms.
Plato believed that everything in nature changes, but there is an eternal world of ideas outside of
the natural world. Everything we see is an approximation of some perfect idea that exists
somewhere else. Platonic Forms are abstract, perfect, unchanging concepts that transcend time
and space and they exist in the platonic realm.
Explain the Third Man Argument against Plato's metaphysics.
Third man argument is created by Aristotle due to plato stating that having forms which partakes
in a divine form of something that exists. He then creates this theory to disprove plato by stating
that, platos no form can partake in itself rule is disproven by the fact that the divine "cupness" of
cups has to be explained by taking part in cupness as a cup which breaks the rule making this an
infinite loop.
What was the Oracle at Delphi?
AND CORRECT ANSWERS!!
According to The Philosopher in Sophie's World, most people don't become philosophers.
Metaphorically speaking, most people crawl deep into what?
According to Sophie's world most people climb deep into the rabbit's hair whereas the
philosopher's stay on the tip of the hairs questioning everything. The people in the fur are content
with how life is and don't bother questioning life.
What is the dog's name in Sophie's World? Why?
The dog's name is Hermes because he begins to deliver the philosophers notes and Hermes was
the messenger god according to the greek gods.
In the Locke chapter, the dog does something weird. What?
The dog actually talks to sophie during the Locke chapter.
Who were Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Empedocles, Anaxagorus?, andDemocritus?
How were these philosophers also like scientists?
Thales, Anaximander,Anaxamienes, Empedolces, Anaxgorus, and Democritus are the natural
philosophers because of the fact they used nature like fire and water to justify their meta physics
on how the world worked and what came about.
Who said "Man is the measure of all things"? ('Man' meaning 'a person.') Whatdid this
sentence mean?
Protagoras said "Man is the measure of all things." This means that the individual human being
is the ultimate source of value, as opposed to a god or unchanging moral law.
Explain Parmenides's view of reality (his metaphysics). Make sure you discussthe role of
negative existentials in this philosophy — sentences like "Santa Clausdoes not exist."
Parmenides believed that nothing actually changed and he held to his reason despite the evidence
of his senses,making him the first rationalist.
Negative Existentials- Zeus does not exist, Santa Claus does not exist, Pegasus does not exist,
,Atlantis does not exist, ghosts do not exist BUT the concept of everything does exist
Therefore there are no negative existentials, the world is consistent and definite. There is no
change.
Parmenides view contrasted with Heraclitus's. What was Heraclitus's metaphysics?
Parmenides was the opposite to Heraclitus because Parmenides believed that nothing had
changed but Heraclitus thought everything was changing constantly. This he used a river as an
example to prove his theory correct by saying once you step into a river it will never be the same
river after that due to the ripples that you have created in the water.
Heraclitus believed in his senses and felt that nothing stays the same.
Parmenides had a famous student. What was this student's name?
Zeno of Elea
What great contribution to human thought did this student contribute?
Zeno was known for his paradoxes that prove motion is not possible.
Achilleas and the tortoise- the tortoise is given a head start in a race with achilleas. In the time it
takes for achilleas to catch up to the tortoise, the tortoise has moved forward some distance.
Arrow- an arrow in flight is at a position at a given time (at- at theory)
Dichotomy paradox- in order for Achilleas to move from point A to B, he needs to go halfway,
but before he could go halfway, he'd have to go halfway of that. Since this goes on forever, the
distance could not be traveled.
Is this contribution still with us today, or has it been solved?
The at- at theory of motion is still believed today.
Who did Socrates meet on the Porch of the King Archon?
Euthyphro
What did they discuss? Define it, if only roughly. Did they come to any sort of conclusion?
If so, what was it? Consider the question: Is some act moral because the gods say it is, or do
the gods say it is because the act is moral? Why is this question important?
, Euthyphro and Socrates discussed the meaning of piety. 3 definitions of piety: doing what is just,
what the gods want, what ALL the gods want. At the end, Socrates still insists that he does not
know what piety is and there is no answer to the question. This question is important because
each side consider something completely different in relation to piety.
Why did Socrates kill himself?
Socrates killed himself because he did not believe in fighting the death that he was sentenced to
due to that fact that they believed he was corrupting the youth. He could have lived and just been
exiled however, that would not be like Socrates to take the cowards way out. Being exiled would
have been a slow painful death.
Why was Socrates in the predicament where one option was to kill himself?
Socrates was convicted of corrupting the youth of Athens and introducing strange gods. He was
sentenced to die by drinking poison hemlock or be exiled.
Explain Plato's view of reality, his metaphysics. Make sure you mention thePlatonic Realm
and Platonic Forms.
Plato believed that everything in nature changes, but there is an eternal world of ideas outside of
the natural world. Everything we see is an approximation of some perfect idea that exists
somewhere else. Platonic Forms are abstract, perfect, unchanging concepts that transcend time
and space and they exist in the platonic realm.
Explain the Third Man Argument against Plato's metaphysics.
Third man argument is created by Aristotle due to plato stating that having forms which partakes
in a divine form of something that exists. He then creates this theory to disprove plato by stating
that, platos no form can partake in itself rule is disproven by the fact that the divine "cupness" of
cups has to be explained by taking part in cupness as a cup which breaks the rule making this an
infinite loop.
What was the Oracle at Delphi?
