Chapter 2: The Ancient World

Question 1

theory of mind

Answer 1

an area in cognitive development that concerns how we come to know the beliefs, feelings, plans, and behavioral intentions of other people

people have been wondering about this since homo sapiens were around

Question 2

neolithic revolution (12,000 years ago)

Answer 2

the time when humans first transitioned from living in small hunter-gatherer bands to become villagers, temple builders, and even city dwellers

pivotal event in this revolution was the domestication of agricultural plants and then animals

Question 3

anthropomorphism

Answer 3

the projection of human attributes onto nature

Question 4

animism

Answer 4

the belief that everything in nature is alive

Question 5

magic

Answer 5

various ceremonies and rituals that are designed to influence spirits and nature

Question 6

olympian religion

Answer 6

religion based on the belief in the olympian gods as they were described in the homeric poems. olympian religion tended to be favored by the privileged classes, whereas peasants, laborers, and slaves tended to favor the more mystical DionysianOrphic religion

Question 7

dionysian-orphic religion

Answer 7

religion whose major belief was that the should becomes a prisoner of the body because of some transgression committed by the soul. the soul continues on a circle of transmigrations until it has been purged of sin, at which time it can escape its earthly existence and truth to its pure, divine existence among the gods

Question 8

transmigration of the soul

Answer 8

the dionysian-orphic belief that because of some transgression, the soul is compelled to dwell in one earthly prison after another until it is purified. the transmigration may find the soul at various times in plants, animals, and humans as it seeks redemption

Question 9

Thales (625-547 BC)

Answer 9

often called the first philosopher because he emphasized natural instead of supernatural explanations of things. by encouraging the critical evaluation of his ideas and those of others, he is though tot have started the golden age of greek philosophy. he believed water to be the primary element from which everything else was derived

Question 10

cosmology

Answer 10

the study of the origin, structure, and processes governing the universe

Question 11

physis

Answer 11

a primary substance or element from which everything is thought to be derived

Question 12

anazimander (610-547 BC)

Answer 12

suggested the infinite or boundless as the physis and formulated a rudimentary theory of evolution

Question 13

heraclitus (540-480 BC)

Answer 13

suggested fire as the physis because in its presence nothing remains the same. he viewed the world as in a constant state of flux and thereby raised the question as to what could be known with certainty

Question 14

Parmenides (515 BC)

Answer 14

believed the world was solid, fixed, and motionless and therefore that all apparent change or motion was an illusion

Question 15

zeno of elea (495-430 BC)

Answer 15

a disciple of Parmenedes known for his clever examples and fables

Question 16

zeno’s paradox

Answer 16

the assertion that in order for an object to pass from point A to point B, it must first traverse half the distance between those two points, and then half of the remaining distance, and so forth. because this process must occur an infinite number of times, Zeno concluded that an object could logically never reach point B

Question 17

Pythagoras (580-500 BC)

Answer 17

believed that an abstract world consisting of numbers and numerical relationships exerted an influence not he physical world. he created a dualistic view of human by saying that in addition to our body, we have a mind (soul), which though reasoning could understand the abstract world of numbers. furthermore, he believed the human should to be immortal. pythagoras’ philosophy had a major influence on Plato and, through christianity, on the entire western world

Question 18

empedocles (490-430 BC)

Answer 18

postulated earth, fire, air, and water as the four basic elements from which everything is made and two forces, love and strife, that alternately synthesize and separate those elements. he was also the first philosopher to suggest a theory of perception, and he offered a theory of evolution that emphasized a rudimentary form of natural selection

Question 19

anaxagoras (500-428 BC)

Answer 19

postulated an infinite number of elements (seeds) from which everything is made. he believed that everything contains all the elements and that a thing’s identity is determined by which elements predominate. an exception is the mind, which contains no other element but may combine with other elements, thereby creating life

Question 20

democritus (460-370 BC)

Answer 20

offered atoms as the physis. everything in nature, including humans, was explained in terms of atoms and their activities. his was the first completely materialistic view of the world and of humans

Question 21

elementism

Answer 21

the belief that complex processes can be understood by studying the elements of which they consist

Question 22

reductionism

Answer 22

the attempt to explain objects or events in one domain by using terminology, concepts, laws, or principles from another domain.

Question 23

temple medicine

Answer 23

the type of medicine practiced by the priests in early Greek temples that was characterized by superstition and magic.

Question 24

alcmaeon (500 BC)

Answer 24

one of the firs greek physicians to move away from the magic and superstition of temple medicine and toward a naturalistic understanding and treatment of illness

Question 25

hippocrates (460-377 BC)

Answer 25

considered the father of modern medicine because he assumed that disease had natural causes, not supernatural ones. health prevails when the four humors of the body are in balance, disease when there is an imbalance

Question 26

galen (AD 130-200)

Answer 26

associated each of Hippocrates’ four humors with a temperament, thus creating a rudimentary theory of personality

Question 27

sophists

Answer 27

a group of philosopher-teachers who believed that “truth” was what people thought it to be. to convince others that something is true, one needs effective communication skills, and it was those skills that the sophists taught

Question 28

xenophanes (560-478 BC)

Answer 28

believed people created gods in their own image. he noted that dark-skinned people created dark-skinned gos and light-skinned people created light-skinned gods

Question 29

protagoras (485-410 BC)

Answer 29

sophist who taught that “man is the measure of all things.” in other words, what is considered true varies with a person’s personal experiences; therefore, there is no objective truth, only individual versions of what is true

Question 30

nihilism

Answer 30

the belief that because what is considered true varies from person to person, any search for universal truth is going to fail

Question 31

solipsism

Answer 31

the belief that a person’s subjective reality is the only reality that exists and can be known

Question 32

gorgias (485-380 BC)

Answer 32

a sophist who believed the only reality a person can experience is his or her subjective reality and that this reality can never be accurately communicated to another individual

Question 33

socrates (470-399 BC)

Answer 33

disagreed with the sophists contention that there is no discernible truth beyond individual opinion. socrates believed that by examining a number of individual manifestations of a concept, the general concept itself could be defined clearly and precisely

Question 34

plato (427-347 BC)

Answer 34

first a disciple of socrates, came under the influence of pythagoreans, and postulated the existence of an abstract world of forms or ideas that, when manifested in matter, make up the objects in the empirical world. the only true knowledge is that of the forms, a knowledge that can be gained only by reflecting on the innate contents of the soul. sensory experience interferes with the attainment of knowledge and should be avoided

Question 35

theory of forms

Answer 35

plato’s contention that ultimate reality consists of abstract ideas or forms that correspond to all objects in the empirical world. knowledge of these abstractions is innate and can be attained only through introspection

Question 36

allegory of the cave

Answer 36

plato’s description of individuals who live their lives in accordance with the shadows of reality provided by sensory experience instead of in accordance with the true reality beyond sensory experience

Question 37

reminiscence theory of knowledge

Answer 37

plato’s belief that knowledge is attained by remembering the experiences the soul had when it dwelled among the forms before entering the body

Question 38

plato’s legacy

Answer 38

plato created a dualism that divided the human into a body, which was material and imperfect, and a mind (soul), which contained pure knowledge

Question 39

aristotle (384-322 BC)

Answer 39

believed sensory experience to be the basis of all knowledge, although the five senses and the common sense provided only the information from which knowledge could be derived. aristotle also believed that everting in nature had within it an entelechy (purpose) that determined its potential.