Greek Philosophy Questions

Pre-Socratic SQ

1. Anaximenes

The Presocratic philosopher was active during the latter half of the the 6th century BC and of the Milesian school of thought. He asserted that the primary material of the physical reality was air.

2. Reality is reducible to Fire

Heraclitus believed that all reality is reducible to fire.

3. What did Zeno mean?

Zeno’s paradox of the Tortoise and Achilles was intended to demonstrate that all motion is impossible as to cover a particular distance one must cover half of half the distance and so on such that in reality the person does not cover any distance at all. 

Apology SQ

1. Why is Socrates being brought before the court?

He had failed to recognize the gods that were recognized by the state while also inventing new deities and corrupting the young Athenians.

2. Who is Hippias of Ellis? What does he do according to Socrates?

Hippias of Ellis was a Greek sophist and a polymath who according to Socrates charges people a pretty penny for rhetoric services. Socrates believes that the same is taught elsewhere for free.

3. What was the official name of the Oracle?

The Oracle’s name is Delphi.

4. What did the Oracle say about Socrates?

Delphi asserts that Socrates is the wisest among all men. A proclamation that Socrates believes in as he indicates he is the only one who can state that he does not know anything unlike others who state they know everything.

5. Why is Socrates not afraid of Death?

According to Socrates, no one but the gods knows what happens after death. Therefore, it would be foolish to fear what is unknown.

Euthyphro SQ

1. Does Socrates really believe Euthyphro is wise about the nature of piety? Support your answer with text.

Socrates does not believe that Euthyphro is wise about the nature of piety or impiety. In this case, Socrates seems to be sarcastic because whenever Euthyphro answers him, he would indicate that he has not yet received his answer just examples of the same. Socrates states, “ I did not ask you to give me two or three examples of piety but to explain the general idea which makes all pious things to be pious ." In this case, Euthyphro was having trouble explaining the meaning of the concept making Socrates the one who is wise.

2. In two sentences, describe what basic question Socrates is trying to answer in the Euthyphro.

Socrates is trying to answer the true meaning of what is considered a good action. He questions whether good actions are so because a person says they are good or whether it is because the action in itself is good hence they are good. 

3. On what page does Socrates ask the following question, “Tell me, then—Is not that which is pious necessarily just?

The above question by Socrates is stated in the page where it comes right before the sencent, “As I perceive that you are lazy, I will myself endeavor to show you how you might instruct me in the nature of piety; and I hope that you will not grudge your labour.”

4. What do you think the word “pious” means in the Dialogue?

According to the dialogue, the term pious identifies the things or actions that the gods love while those that they do not love is considered impious.

5. Finish this sentence “Then piety, Euthyphro, is an art which gods and…..?”

…. and men have of doing business with one another?

Phaedo SQ

1. What does Socrates mean when he says the Philosophy is a preparation for death?

Socrates points out that human beings do not wish to spend their lives in ignorance. Therefore, the most appropriate means of ensuring this by practicing philosophy throughout their lives and transcending ignorance to recognize the truth.

2. Does Socrates have a positive or negative view of the body in this Dialogue? Support your opinion with text?

According to Socrates, he maintains a negative view of the body which contrasts the soul. The body only exists to distract us while the soul we seek to perfect by continuous search and pursuit of knowledge and reason. Socrates believed that there was no truth in the bodily sense as sight and smell are both non-existent. As a result, human reason is able to function best when the soul is not troubled by the body. 

3. Why does Socrates say that the soul must be immortal. Reconstruct (paraphrase in your own words) his argument.

Socrates provided four arguments why the soul must be immortal. The first is the Argument of Opposites where everything comes from out of its opposite, life and death, tall and short, and so forth. In life and death, he believes this to be a perpetual cycle that cannot be permanent. The second is the Theory of Recollections where Socrates believes that learning involves recollecting things that we knew before we were born but forgot. It is the innate understanding of form of equality that helps us recognize that two sticks are equal in leangth, but not width showing that the soul must have existed before birth. The third is the Argument of Affinty that helps distinguish between things that are material and immaterial, visible and invisible, and perishable and immortal. The soul belongs to the latter category while the body to the former. The fourth is the Theory of Forms where Socrates identifies that a Form is perfectly itself and cannot possess its opposite. He explains that the soul is what animates us as it is intimately connected to the Form of Life hence cannot be tainted by death. 

Meno SQ

What is Socrates' ultimate answer to this question in the dialogue?

Socrates’ ultimate answer on the question of whether virtue is taught or by nature is that virtue is something beneficial to the soul then as a whole or in part is considered wisdom. In this regard, virtue cannot be inborn and is acquired by being taught. However, as he is unsure of this as it would mean that there are teachers of virtue to which he asserts that he has yet to find any. This would indicate that virtue cannot be taught. 

Plato's Republic I, II, III SQ

1. So how does Socrates arrive at the conclusion that injustice can never be more profitable than justice?

Socrates arrives at the conclusion that injustice can never be more profitable that justice as just people live happier and better lives as opposed to the unjust. In this way he refutes the fact that injustice cannot be beneficial to anyone and only justice can be equated to a healthy soul or wisdom.

2. Give a brief explanation of the point Glaucon is trying to make here against Socrates' view of justice.

In the point made by Glaucon, he seeks to refute Socrates’ definition of justice as one that is a good liked for its own sake and for its individual benefit like healthy living. Glaucon seeks that Socrates defines justice as an action that that is good on its own and not for the consequences it derives. 

Allegory SQ

1. How is the cave like our world today?

The cave is a resemblance of our world today as the prisoner does nor see reality. In the same way, human beings experience the world through our five senses making us slaves to the senses. Human beings cannot effectively see reality in its true forms. 

2. Why might the liberated prisoner begin to think that the illusions of the cave are more real than the things he sees in the real world?

The entire life of the prisoner has been experiencing the illusions created in the cave. In this way, he accepts them as being real as it is only relative to the subject or person. Even exposure to the real world would be hard to accept as real as the prisoner has been socialized to accept all that is real exists in the cave. 

3. What is the process the liberated prisoner needs to go through to get used to the light of the upperworld?

The process of liberation would begin by the prisoner seeing shadows first before distinguishing the reflections of objects in the water and finally he will see the sun and the objects as they are in the upperworld. 

4. Would you go back to help those still imprisoned…why or why not?

I would go back to help those who are still imprisoned as there are many who are haunted by the illusions of the “cave”. The dream world is only a concept that makes individuals feel trapped and what better way to liberate them than by showing them the “sun”

5. Socrates makes the point that other professors are wrong in their method of education. What is his argument here?

Other professors educate their students that knowledge is not inherent in human beings. Socrates asserts that knowledge of forms preexists before we were born and we only need to recollect this information.

Nicomachean Ethics Book 1 SQ

1. What Aristotle saying here?

According to Aristotle, every craft, action, and line of inquiry seeks some good as in each case there is an ultimate goal. This depiction points out that within particular categories known as the ruling sciences, there are pursuits that are better off than others where horsemanship is better than bridle making. In the same way, human beings should seek to pursue actions that lead to a higher goal, though chasing activities that support the higher end is also good.

2. In Section 4, according to Aristotle what ultimate good does every pursuit or activity aim at?

The ultimate good that every pursuit seeks to achieve is happiness even though the definition of this concept eludes a common understanding. 

3. In Section 7 and elsewhere Aristotle refers to the ultimate good of some activity by using a specific phrase. What is the phrase?

Aristotle refers to "an end pursued in its own right" as the ultimate good of a particular activity.

4. Finish the following sentence. "When then should we not say that he is happy who is active in accordance with complete virtue.........."

….. and who is adequately equipped with external goods, not for any chance time but in a complete life?

Epictetus SQ

Give a brief explanation of what Epictetus is saying the following quote:

Epictetus’ stoic saying identifies that human beings should live in such a way that they can recognize the things they have control over and those that they do not. In the former, it enables the individual to live free, unhindered, unrestrained while in the latter it will cause an individual to find fault both among men and the gods. 

Seneca SQ

Pick three claims Seneca makes about anger. Explain these passages in your own words and indicate how they might be applied to some real-life situation.

Seneca identifies that anger is short madness where the individual is devoid of decorum, self control, and awkward at perceiving what is true and just. In this way, a person should not take action when in anger as it will only result in calamity that one might regret after taking it. 

The second claim, Seneca points out that anger may rise without the volition that is beyond our control. In this regard, individuals should not feel less than for becoming angry, as it may happen even to the wisest person. One should instead seek cognitive distance to decide whether our initial assessment of a situation is wrong or right.

The third claim is that there are significant measures that an individual may take to drive anger away. This may be done in openly and without concealment or secretly when the anger is excessively hot. He identifies how Pythagoras calmed his troubled spirit through playing the lyre. In the same way, individuals can use music as a means of soothing the heart. 

Marcus Aurelius SQ

Reflection of out thoughts and desires which is referred to as “meditation” is an effective means of ensuring that we can be able to control our anger. As the stoics identifies, anger may build up slowly to a point where it can no longer be controlled by the individual. The primary practice can be implemented by the individual re-evaluating the source or starting point of their anger