Quiz 1 / HON 1400 / CSU / Fall 2014 : ANSWER KEY
1. What is epistemology?
The Study of knowledge
2. Explain in 3 sentences Socratic or Platonic epistemology:
(1) Platonic epistemology is often called Recollection (or Reminiscence) and is based on his belief in two separate worlds (or realms): the world of forms
(or ideas [eidos]) and the world of sense (i.e., the material world in which we humans live).
(2) The soul or mind (psuche) is immortal and eternal and thereby doesn’t belong to the material world of sense but rather in the immaterial world of forms, so prior to being (re)incarnated in an ugly, corruptible, mortal body, here on earth, our souls “lived” in the world of forms, where it knew (or saw) all the eternal truths (e.g., good, true, beauty, virtue, the perfection of geometry and mathematics, etc.) which it has forgotten, now, that it is imprisoned in a mortal body in the world of sense.
(3) For Plato, therefore, philosophy is the practice of contemplation and asking questions as a way of (re)perfecting the soul (while it is trapped in the world of sense) by trying to get it to remember or recollect all of its knowledge of the formal and eternal truths that it has forgotten from the world of forms.
3. What are the names of the 3 accusers of Socrates?
Anytus, Lycon, Meletus
4. What are the 3 accusations levelled against Socrates?
(1) Atheism (or, impiety; or, not believing in the gods of the state/Athens)
(2) Making the weaker argument the stronger
(3) Corrupting the youth (paidopthoria)
5. Once found guilty, what does Socrates offer (other than a small fee) as a counter-sentence (what he deserves, rather than the death penalty)?
He suggests that what he really deserves from the citizens of Athens is free room and board in the palace.
6. The unexamined life is not worth living.
7. A good man cannot be harmed in life or death.
8. How does Socrates' last few words in the Apology, about his sons and what
Socrates hopes Athens will say to them after his death, relate to W.E.B.
DuBois critique of trade schools and vocational schools?
Socrates asks the citizens of Athens to criticize his sons when they get older, as he would have done if he were still alive, if they lived a life only interested in pursuing wealth and money instead of philosophy, knowledge, and contemplation. This relates to Du Bois’ critique of trade and vocational schools because Du Bois believes that such training (as useful and necessary as it is) may have a tendency to focus only on procuring jobs, money, and material livelihood, rather than a true human development that would come from something like philosophy, humanities, or contemplation, which he believes will be necessary to for black folk to develop as a race beyond the structural racism and systemic deprivation of resources in postbellum U.S. culture.
9. Plato is referred to as a metaphysical dualist. Describe the two spheres or realms that make up this dualism, with at least to examples:
(1) World of Forms: eternal, immaterial, immortal, soul
(2) World of Sense: temporal, material, mortal, body
(See answer to number 2)
10. Why, according to Aristotle, is happiness different from all other ends that one pursues (e.g., in terms of efficiency)?
One may believe that one pursues the many ends throughout one’s life for their own sake (e.g., love, fame, money, family, etc.), but upon further analysis, they are not “ends” at all but merely “means” to other ends. For
Aristotle, the ultimate reason for which we pursue anything is eventually happiness (eudaimonia). Therefore, happiness is different from all other pursuits because it is the only one that is self-sufficient; i.e., pursed as an end-in-itself and never as a means for the sake of something else.
11. What is the relationship, both etymologically and practically, between justice and judges in Book 5?
The judge is the person whose job it is to weigh the evidence of a particular
