Chapter 3 (Rome & Middle Ages)

Question 1

Pyrrho of Elis (ca. 360-270 BC)

Answer 1

founder of skepticism

Question 2

Skepticism

Answer 2

the belief that all beliefs can be proved false; thus to avoid the frustration of being wrong, it is best to believe nothing

Question 3

Dogmatist

Answer 3

according to the Skeptics, any person claiming to have arrived at an indisputable truth

Question 4

Antisthenes (ca. 445-365 BC)

Answer 4

Founder of Cynicism

Questioned the value of intellectual pursuits

Preached a back to nature philosophy, free from wants, passions, and many conventions of society

Thought true happiness depended on self-sufficiency

It was the quest for the simple, independent, natural life that characterized Cynicism

Question 5

Cynicism

Answer 5

the belief that the best life is one lived close to nature and away from the rules and regulations of society

Question 6

Diogenes (ca. 412-323 BC)

Answer 6

like his mentor Antisthenes, advocated natural impulses as the proper guide for action instead of social convention

Question 7

Epicureanism

Answer 7

the belief that the best life is one of long-term pleasure resulting from moderation

Question 8

Epicurus of Samos (ca. 341-270 BC):

Answer 8

Founder of Epicureanism

Based his philosophy on Democritus’s atomism but rejected his determinism.

According to Epicurus, the atoms making up humans ever lose their ability to move freely; hence, he postulated free will

Question 9

Zeno of Citium (ca 335-263 BC)

Answer 9

Founder of stoicism

Believed that the world was ruled by a divine plan and everything in nature was there for a reason

Question 10

Stoicism

Answer 10

the belief that one should live according to nature’s plan an accept ones fate with indifference or, in case of extreme hardships, with courage

Question 11

Epicureanism

Answer 11

the belief that the best life is one of long0term pleasure resulting from moderation

Question 12

Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180)

Answer 12

Roman emperor and author of Meditations, a seminal work of Stoic philosophy

Question 13

Neoplatonism

Answer 13

Philosophy that emphasized the most mystical aspects of Plato’s philosophy/. Transcendental experiences were considered the most significant type of human experience

Question 14

Philo (ca. 25 BC – AD 50)

Answer 14

A Neoplatonist who combined Jewish theology with Plato’s philosophy. Philo differentiated between the lower self (the body) and a spiritual self, which is made in God’s image. The body is the source of all evil, therefore, for the spiritual self to fully develop, one should avoid or minimize sensory experience

Question 15

Plotinus (ca 205-270)

Answer 15

A Neoplatonism who emphasized the importance of embracing the soul through introspection. These subjective experiences were more important and informative than physical experiences

Question 16

Vedantism

Answer 16

The Indian religion that emphasized the importance of semiecstatic trances

Question 17

Zoroastrianism

Answer 17

the Persian religion that equated truth and wisdom with the brilliance of the sun and ignorance and evil with darkness

Question 18

Mystery Religions

Answer 18

Ancient religions (cults) that were characterized by secret rites of initiation; ceremonies designed to bring initiates close to a deity or deities, to symbolize death and rebirth, to offer purification and forgiveness of sins, and to cause the exaltation of a new life; the confession of sin; and a strong feeling of community among members.

Question 19

Jesus (ca. 6 BC – AD 30)

Answer 19

a simple, sensitive man who St. Paul and others claimed was the Messiah. Those who believed Jesus to be the son of God are called Christians

Question 20

St. Paul (ca AD – 10-64)

Answer 20

Founded the Christian church by claiming that Jesus was the son of God. Paul placed the soul or spirit in the highest position among the human faculties, the body in the lowest, and the mind in a position somewhere in between.

Question 21

Constantine (ca. 272-337)

Answer 21

Roman Emperor whose Edict of Milan in 313 made Christianity a tolerated religion within the Roman Empire. Under Constantine’s leadership, widely diverse Christian writings and beliefs were formalized, thus facilitating the widespread acceptance of Christianity.

Question 22

St. Augustine (ca. 354-349)

Answer 22

After having demonstrated the validity of inner, subjective experience, said that one can know God through introspection as well as through the revealed truth of the scriptures. Augustine also wrote extensively on human free will

Question 23

Internal sense

Answer 23

the internal knowledge of moral right that individuals use in evaluating their behaviour and thoughts. Postulated by St. Augustine.

Question 24

Predestination

Answer 24

the belief that God has preordained, even before birth, which people will be granted salvation (the elect) and which are condemned to eternal damnation

Question 25

Introspection

Answer 25

the examination of one’s inner experiences

(Augustine)

We see here the influence of Plato, who also believed that truth must be attained through such introspective analysis

Question 26

Avicenna (Persian name, Ibn Sina; 980-1037)

Answer 26

A Muslim physician and philosopher whose translations of, and commentaries on, the works of Aristotle strongly influenced subsequent Western philosophers

Question 27

Averroes (Persian name, Ibn Rushd; 1126-1198)

Answer 27

A Muslim physician and philosopher who, among other things, wrote commentaries on Aristotle’s work on the senses, memory, sleep and waking, and dreams

Disagreed with Avicenna about arrangement of human intelligences, believing that all human experiences reflect Gods influence

Question 28

Avicenna’s senses hierarchy

Answer 28

Then postulated 7 interior senses, which were arranged in a hierarchy

1) The common sense, which synthesizes the information provided by the external senses
2) Retentive imagination, ability to remember the synthesized information from the common sense
3) Compositive animal imagination – for animals, strictly associative process, objects or events associated with pain are avoided, pleasure is approached
4) Compo human imagination – allows humans and animals to learn what to approach or avoid in the environment, humans have creative combination of information from common sense and from retentive imagination (can imagine a unicorn without experiencing one, non-humans cannot)
5) Estimative power, the innate ability to make judgements about environmental objects
6) Ability to remember the outcomes of all the information processing that occurs lower in the hierarchy
7) Ability to rationally use that information

Question 29

Maimonides (or Moses ben Maimon; 1135-1204):

Answer 29

Jewish physician and philosopher who attempted to reconcile Aristotelian philosophy and Judaism

Attempted to show that many passages from the Old Testament and the Talmud could be understood rationally, therefore, need not be taken on faith alone.

Other passages were to be understood only as allegory and not taken as literally true

Went so far as to say that is something is demonstrably false, it should be rejected, even if it is stated in the bible or Talmud

Question 30

St. Anselm (ca. 1033-1109)

Answer 30

Argued that sense perception and rational powers should supplement faith (see ontological argument for the existence of God)

Question 31

Ontological Argument for the Existence of God

Answer 31

Anselm’s contention that if we can think of something, it must be real. Because we can think of a perfect being (God) that perfect being must exist

Question 32

Peter Lombard (ca. 1095-1160)

Answer 32

Insisted that God could be known through faith, reason, or the study of his work in nature

Another Augustinian

Argued even more forcefully for the place of reason within Christianity

Question 33

Scholasticism

Answer 33

the synthesis of Aristotelian philosophy with Christian teachings

Question 34

Peter Abelard (1079-1142)

Answer 34

One of the first Western philosopher-theologians to emphasize the works of Aristotle

Question 35

Dialectic method

Answer 35

the technique used by Abelard in seeking truth. Questions are raised, and several possible answers to those questions are explored.

Question 36

Realism

Answer 36

the belief that abstract universals (essences) exist and that empirical events are only manifestations of those universals

Question 37

Nominalism

Answer 37

the belief that so-called universals are nothing more than verbal labels or mental habits that are used to denote classes of experience

Question 38

Conceptualism

Answer 38

Abelard’s proposed solution to the realism-nominalism debate. Abelard argued that concepts do not have independent existence (realism) but that, being abstractions, they are more than mere names (nominalism)

Question 39

St. Thomas Aquinas (ca. 1225-1274)

Answer 39

Epitomized Scholasticism. He sought to Christianize the works of Aristotle and to show that both faith and reason lead to the truth of God’s existence

Question 40

St. Albertus Magnus (ca. 1200-1280)

Answer 40

made a comprehensive review of Aristotle’s work. Following Aristotle’s suggestion, he also made careful, direct observations of nature.

Question 41

St. Bonaventure (ca. 1217-1274)

Answer 41

A contemporary of St. Thomas Aquinas who argued that Christianity should remain Augustinian and should reject any effort to assimilate Aristotelian philosophy into church dogma

Question 42

William of Occam (sometimes spelled Ockham; ca/ 1285-1349)

Answer 42

denied the contention of the realist that what we experience are but manifestations of abstract principles. Instead, he sided with the nominalists who said that so-called abstract principles, or universals, were nothing more than verbal labels that we use to describe classes of experiences. For Occam, reality is what we experience directly, there is no need to assume a higher reality beyond our senses.

Question 43

Occam’s Razor

Answer 43

The belief that of several, equally effective alternative explanations, the one that makes the fewest assumptions should be accepted