EGEL Philosophy: Essential Questions,
Answers, and Rationales
Section 1: History of Philosophy (Ancient & Medieval)
1. Q: What is the central principle of Heraclitus's philosophy?
,A: *Panta Rhei* (Everything flows) and the unity of opposites.
R: Heraclitus posited that change is the fundamental essence of the cosmos, exemplified by his
famous maxim that one cannot step into the same river twice.
2. Q: What is the "Meno Paradox" (or the paradox of inquiry) according to Plato?
A: A person cannot search for what they know (since they already know it) nor for what they don't
know (since they wouldn't know what to look for).
R: Plato resolves this through the theory of *Anamnesis* (recollection), arguing that learning is the
soul's remembering of knowledge acquired in a previous existence.
3. Q: For Aristotle, what is the "Unmoved Mover"?
A: The ultimate cause of all motion in the cosmos, itself eternal and unchanging, which moves
other things by being the object of their desire or love.
R: It is the final cause (telos) of the universe, not an efficient cause, demonstrating Aristotle's
teleological view of nature.
4. Q: How does Epicurus define pleasure?
,A: The absence of pain in the body and trouble in the soul (*aponia* and *ataraxia*).
R: For Epicureans, pleasure is not hedonistic indulgence, but a state of tranquility achieved
through moderation and the elimination of irrational fears (like fear of death).
5. Q: What is the central claim of St. Anselm's Ontological Argument?
A: God is "that than which nothing greater can be conceived," and if this exists in the mind, it must
also exist in reality, as existence in reality is greater.
R: This is an *a priori* argument that attempts to deduce God's existence from the very concept of
God.
6. Q: In St. Augustine's philosophy, what is the origin of evil?
A: Evil is not a substance but a "privatio boni" (a privation or corruption of the good).
R: Augustine argued that God cannot be the author of evil; rather, evil arises from the free will of
creatures choosing a lesser good over a greater one.
7. Q: What is the Thomistic principle of "Analogy of Being"?
, A: The concept of being is predicated of God and creatures neither univocally (in the same sense)
nor equivocally (in a totally different sense), but analogically.
R: This allows for a middle ground: we can speak meaningfully about God using human language,
but our concepts are always limited and imperfect.
8. Q: Who said "I think, therefore I am" and in what context?
A: René Descartes in his *Meditations on First Philosophy* as the first principle of his
epistemology.
R: It serves as the Archimedean point of certainty from which he rebuilds knowledge, proving the
existence of the self as a thinking thing.
9. Q: What does Spinoza mean by "God or Nature" (*Deus sive Natura*)?
A: God is the one infinite substance that is identical with the totality of the natural world and its
laws.
R: This is a pantheistic view that collapses the Judeo-Christian transcendent God into the
immanent causal system of the universe.
10. Q: What is Leibniz's doctrine of "Pre-established Harmony"?
Answers, and Rationales
Section 1: History of Philosophy (Ancient & Medieval)
1. Q: What is the central principle of Heraclitus's philosophy?
,A: *Panta Rhei* (Everything flows) and the unity of opposites.
R: Heraclitus posited that change is the fundamental essence of the cosmos, exemplified by his
famous maxim that one cannot step into the same river twice.
2. Q: What is the "Meno Paradox" (or the paradox of inquiry) according to Plato?
A: A person cannot search for what they know (since they already know it) nor for what they don't
know (since they wouldn't know what to look for).
R: Plato resolves this through the theory of *Anamnesis* (recollection), arguing that learning is the
soul's remembering of knowledge acquired in a previous existence.
3. Q: For Aristotle, what is the "Unmoved Mover"?
A: The ultimate cause of all motion in the cosmos, itself eternal and unchanging, which moves
other things by being the object of their desire or love.
R: It is the final cause (telos) of the universe, not an efficient cause, demonstrating Aristotle's
teleological view of nature.
4. Q: How does Epicurus define pleasure?
,A: The absence of pain in the body and trouble in the soul (*aponia* and *ataraxia*).
R: For Epicureans, pleasure is not hedonistic indulgence, but a state of tranquility achieved
through moderation and the elimination of irrational fears (like fear of death).
5. Q: What is the central claim of St. Anselm's Ontological Argument?
A: God is "that than which nothing greater can be conceived," and if this exists in the mind, it must
also exist in reality, as existence in reality is greater.
R: This is an *a priori* argument that attempts to deduce God's existence from the very concept of
God.
6. Q: In St. Augustine's philosophy, what is the origin of evil?
A: Evil is not a substance but a "privatio boni" (a privation or corruption of the good).
R: Augustine argued that God cannot be the author of evil; rather, evil arises from the free will of
creatures choosing a lesser good over a greater one.
7. Q: What is the Thomistic principle of "Analogy of Being"?
, A: The concept of being is predicated of God and creatures neither univocally (in the same sense)
nor equivocally (in a totally different sense), but analogically.
R: This allows for a middle ground: we can speak meaningfully about God using human language,
but our concepts are always limited and imperfect.
8. Q: Who said "I think, therefore I am" and in what context?
A: René Descartes in his *Meditations on First Philosophy* as the first principle of his
epistemology.
R: It serves as the Archimedean point of certainty from which he rebuilds knowledge, proving the
existence of the self as a thinking thing.
9. Q: What does Spinoza mean by "God or Nature" (*Deus sive Natura*)?
A: God is the one infinite substance that is identical with the totality of the natural world and its
laws.
R: This is a pantheistic view that collapses the Judeo-Christian transcendent God into the
immanent causal system of the universe.
10. Q: What is Leibniz's doctrine of "Pre-established Harmony"?
