Exam 1 Study Guide

Question 1

Be able to list the 3 main roots of the Western thought according to lecture.

Answer 1

1. Greek: belief in reason - rationalism as away of life
2. Judaism: belief in one God (monotheism)
   - Brotherhood of mankind
   -One world ruled by higher law which is above human arbitrariness
   -Emphasis on acting justly
3. Christian: conception of love
   - Love as the highest value and the basis for people’s relations with God and one another

Question 2

Greek thought was predominantly secular and rational in orientation.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Greek thought was marked by uniformity, consistency, and absolutes.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Who said that man creates God in his own image?

Answer 4

Xenophanes

Question 5

Who said that “man is the measure of all things”?

Answer 5

Protagoras

Question 6

Who were the Sophists and what challenge did they pose to traditional Greek society?

Answer 6

They were skilled in rhetoric. Their principal occupations were teaching rhetoric, pleading court cases, and writing speeches for others. The Sophists taught their students to argue either side of a case. The Sophists had a reputation for persuading by clever arguments and stylistic techniques.

The Sophists believed in a relative understanding of truth and of culture. Thus, they challenged that notion that Greek culture was in any way superior to other cultures, or that there were absolute truths as some philosophers taught. They also introduced questionable practices such as teaching for pay. Finally, they made advanced education available to anyone capable of paying their high fees, thus threatening the traditional system whereby the aristocracy controlled education.

Question 7

Who was Protagorus and why was he important?

Answer 7

Protagorus was a Sophist.

He was important for the “belief in man” and humanism, meaning that unless we claim to have revealed truth, we can only mobilize our human resources in trying to discover knowledge about mankind and nature

Question 8

Which Greek thinker observed that reality was constantly in flux, and stated that “you cannot step twice into the same river,” and argued that the logos/fire/reason was the underlying unifying substance that permeated all things?

Answer 8

Heraclitus

Question 9

What set the Greeks apart about their view of the world? What was unique about the Greek culture and mindset?

Answer 9

Greeks were first to observe and seek to understand nature, as opposed to merely influence it

Question 10

What did the Greek’s define as the “love of wisdom”?

Answer 10

Philosophy: the process of learning

Question 11

Who was Pericles? What virtues of Athenian society does Pericles’ Funeral Oration extol?

Answer 11

He was a Greek politician and general.

The significance is that it is a famous description of Greek democracy at its finest-pertaining to the conception of government by consent

-Equality before the law
- Praised Athens for being open and tolerant
Similarities between his Funeral Oration and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address; spoken about those who had offered their lives to defend freedom.

Question 12

Why was Socrates so influential?

Answer 12

He was a free thinker; Father of Western philosophy; More interested in the process of pursuing truth than in imposing set of dogmatic ideas

Question 13

Who said, “the unexamined life is not worth living” and that the care of the soul should be human’s greatest concern

Answer 13

Socrates

Question 14

What is the Socratic method?

Answer 14

To attain reliable knowledge was through the practiced discipline of conversation (question and answer reasoning)

Question 15

Why did Socrates view himself as “gadfly” and “intellectual midwife”?

Answer 15

Facilitating the birth of ideas already conceived in the mind of the other person.

Question 16

Why did Socrates equate knowledge and virtue?

Answer 16

He committed to the search for truth, and determined that wrongdoing is the product of ignorance.

He defined virtue as fulfilling one’s function or purpose - One’s purpose being happiness.

Question 17

Why was Socrates considered to be the greatest Sophists as well as their greatest antagonist?

Answer 17

Like a Sophist, he questioned everything even the existence of Gods, but he didn’t like the Sophists of his time because they stopped questioning everything.

Question 18

Why is Socrates so critical of democracy?

Answer 18

He believed that the masses were uneducated and were unfit to both elect a ruler and to vote for the best policy

Question 19

Why does Socrates believe we owe allegiance to our political community?

Answer 19

• We should obey the political community because of the contribution it makes to our life, growth, and fulfillment
  -If we cannot persuade the political community that its laws are wrong, we are obligated to obey them
  -To disobey a law when it is of benefit to you weakens the state and the laws
  -By existing within a political community, we owe obligation to that community and to its commands

Question 20

Why was Socrates sentenced to die?

Answer 20

Sentenced to die on the charge of corrupting the minds of the youths and not worshipping the State gods, and introducing new religious practices.

Could have gone into voluntary exile, but defended himself in a court whose jury numbered 5,000.

Question 21

What is your main takeaway from the political thought of Socrates?

Answer 21

My main takeaway was of his belief to remain loyal and obey your political community.

Question 22

Who founded the Academy?

Answer 22

Plato

Question 23

Who founded the Lyceum?

Answer 23

Aristotle

Question 24

Who wrote the The Republic?

Answer 24

Plato

Question 25

What were the main themes/ contributions of The Republic to Western political thought?

Answer 25

What is justice and what is the ideal life for the polis (Greek city-state).

Themes:
- “Man writ large”
- Justice must characterize the good society
- Order of the polis (Philosopher rule, guardians defend, farmers/commoners provide
- 3 classes of people correspond to 3 aspects of the individual human soul (artisans/farmers, appetites) (guardians/soldiers, spirit) (ruling elite, rationality)

Question 26

What is Cephalus’ view of justice?

Answer 26

“Telling the truth and paying one’s debt.”

Question 27

What is Polemarchus’ view of justice?

Answer 27

“justice seems to consist in giving what is proper to him”

Question 28

What is Thrasymachus’ view of justice?

Answer 28

1. “Nothing other than the advantage of the stronger.”
2. Justice is obeying the laws of the rulerr (s)
3. Justice is “really someone else’s good, the advantage of the man who is stronger and rules

Question 29

What is Glaucon’s view of Justice? Why does Glaucon relate the story of the ring of Gyges?

Answer 29

Believes human beings practice justice in order to void harm that would come to them if they disobeyed the laws of the society.

He relates the story of the Ring of Gyges to illustrate his point that justice is always self-interested.

Question 30

What is Socrates’ view of justice (see e.g. his 3 views of justice on pg. 32 of text, also pg. 40)?

Answer 30

1. Justice is mightier than injustice; as the saying goes, there must be honor between thieves
2. Justice is wiser than injustice

Question 31

Be able to briefly describe Plato’s doctrine of the Forms/Ideas.

Answer 31

Forms or Ideas are those changeless, eternal,
nonmaterial essences of which the actual visible
objects that we see are only poor copies

Question 32

Be able to describe Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and relate its basic meaning/ lesson.

Answer 32

The allegory delves into the philosophical thought of truth, and how those with different experiences or backgrounds may perceive it.

• Shows how characters can free themselves from intellectual darkness through enlightenment and the bravery to experiment with new ideas.

Question 33

Who said that the state is “man writ large”?

Answer 33

Plato

Question 34

What are the three aspects of the soul according to Plato?

Answer 34

Reason, Spirit, and Appetite

Question 35

What are the three classes of society according to Plato? What role does each of these classes play in society? Which virtue is most associated with each group?

Answer 35

Guardians: Rulers, highest wisdom (rationality)
Auxiliary: Protectors, courage (spirit)
Artisans: Producers, lowest temperance (appetites)

Question 36

Who is the ideal ruler according to Plato? What type of training did the rulers need to receive?

Answer 36

Philosopher Kings

“A training that will make its members ‘gentle to their own people and dangerous only to enemies,’ instill them with courage to defend the city against internal and external enemies, and at the same time imbue them with an understanding of the principles that make the city worth defending.”

Question 37

What qualities/ virtues should a soldier possess, according to Plato/Socrates? That is, what makes for a good soldier and what type of training should they receive?

Answer 37

Guardians must manifest courage.
- Abolish natural families and become a single “guardian” family
- Children of guardians will be taken from them and reared by the state

Question 38

Why did Plato favor censorship in his ideal society?

Answer 38

Protection of society, he didn’t want to corrupt the youth

Compares the rulers to doctors and the ruled to patients-“for a private person to mislead the rulers we shall declare to be a worse offense than for a patient to mislead his doctor.

“If anyone is to practice deception, either on the country’s enemies or on its citizens, it must be the rulers of the commonwealth, acting for its benefit; no one else may meddle with this privilege.”

Question 39

What were Plato’s views on the equality/ ability of women?

Answer 39

Inevitably would become more equal if they received the right training.

Question 40

For which group/s in society does PLato propose communal property/wives/children? For which group/s does he oppose this communal view?

Answer 40

• The Guardians
• The lower classes shouldn’t have this

Question 41

Was Plato more focused on the common good or upon individual happiness?

Answer 41

Common good

Question 42

Why was Hannah Ardent critical of Plato’s Republic? (See pg. 59)?

Answer 42

“Arendt sees the Republic as collapsing the wall between politics and
love, between public space and private hideout. Plato’s scheme destroys
love by making marriage and mating a public business. Whatever else
such publicity does for the guardians, it can hardly make them lovers of
any intimate sort. Where would they go?
It is not just love that is threatened in the Republic. Arendt gives us
grounds to lament that Socrates drags politics out of the light and into
the “unspeakable and unseen places” where defective offspring are hidden.
But politics has to speak; otherwise there is no way to hold guardians
to account.”

Question 43

Why does inequality figure so prominently in Plato’s Republic?

Answer 43

?????

Question 44

Why does Plato argue that curiosity is a key characteristic to search for when seeking to identify future guardians?

Answer 44

????

Question 45

What is Plato/Socrates’ ultimate challenge to democracy? (see e.g., pg. 68, 75-76)

Answer 45

• Democracy reduces to empowering
  public opinion, not knowledge. And unless one endorses public opinion
  as a good way to find justice, then democracy is a flawed form of government
• Politically, the democratic ideal of freedom is so tilted toward
  letting individuals do what they please that there is no unity to the city at
  all.
• Likewise the democratic understanding of equality is flawed in dispensing
  with necessary distinctions between rulers and ruled. Worse, democracy
  does not actually deliver equality but empowers the many who
  are poor to plunder the few who were rich. The hidden rapaciousness
  with which the many seek equality means that class tensions are constantly
  being exacerbated in a democracy.

Question 46

What four reasons does Socrates provide for why tyranny is ultimately self-defeating? (see pgs. 77-78)

Answer 46

First, the tyrant can neither love nor be loved.

Second, the tyrant cannot even enjoy freedom.

Third, the tyrant can never be satisfied.

Fourth, the tyrant cannot escape fear.

Question 47

Why does Socrates argue that the pleasures of the mind are preferable to the pleasures of the body? (see pgs. 79-80)

Answer 47

• Part of what makes pleasures of the mind preferable is that they are
  under our control. They are “here” anytime I want to enjoy them because
  they are inside me; they are in fact who I have become by virtue of
  appreciating the pleasures of the mind. This is why the life of the mind
  frees, while the life of physical appetite enslaves.
• Another reason why the life of the mind is happier is that the pleasures
  are lasting

Question 48

Why does Abramson argue that Plato’s writings on politics and justice are so profoundly antipolitical? (see pg. 82)

Answer 48

Socrates sees the life of the mind as bestowing on us—or rather on
some of us—this demographics-transcending, universal status. Mind ultimately
has the capacity to reason itself free and pure of the influences of
one’s own time and place and to apprehend the objective truths housed in
the Forms or Ideas.

Question 49

Why did Aristotle not view intellectual sophistication as a guarantee or moral behavior and of a virtuous life?

Answer 49

???????

Question 50

Why does Aristotle replace rules with habit as the key to the moral life?

Answer 50

Morality has to do with developing habits - the habits of right thinking, choice, and right behavior.

Question 51

For Aristotle, what is the purpose of moral education? (see pg. 89)

Answer 51

“Far from being a carefree time of life, or at least a time safe for trial and
error, our younger years are times of great moral gravity, when we get
our one and only one chance to develop proper moral character”

Question 52

What reasons does Aristotle provide to make the case that political life is natural for humans? Why do we associate with others by nature? (see e.g., pgs. 91-92, 107-108)

Answer 52

The state is a natural community, an organism with all the attributes of a living being

-“The state is by nature clearly prior to the family and the individual, since the whole is of necessity prior to the part.”

-“It is evident that the State is a creature of nature, and that Man is a political animal.”

Question 53

Why should politics be kept small and local for Aristotle? (see pgs. 92,120)

Answer 53

idk something about shared community idk

Question 54

Be able to describe Aristotle’s notion of citizenship and who is eligible to become a citizen.

Answer 54

Citizen=a person with the ability to rule and be ruled
- “he who has the power to take part in the deliberative or judicial administration of the state”
~One with the right and obligation to participate in the administration of justice
~Sit in the assembly and the law courts
-All slaves and the majority of the “free” were excluded from citizenship
-Must have appropriate temperament and character and ample time to be a citizen
~Aristotle did not believe that laborers (or artisans) should be citizens, as they had neither the time nor the appropriate mental development, nor could they benefit from the experience of sharing in the political process

Question 55

Be able to explain Aristotle’s notion that the virtuous life seeks after the Golden Mean, a life of moderation. What does he mean by this?

Answer 55

Focus on the middle ground between two extremes

Question 56

Be generally familiar with Aristotle’s understanding of the virtues of courage, generosity, proper pride, temperance, and anger.

Answer 56

• Courage: also called “fortitude,” forbearance, strength, endurance, and the ability to confront fear, uncertainty, and intimidation

Question 57

Be able to describe Aristotle’s view of friendship and the different types of friendship that exist.

Answer 57

Friendships are relationships where people mutually like each other, do good for one another, and share goals for the time they spend together.

1. utility-based
2. pleasure-based
3. character-based

Question 58

Why is Aristotle considered more of a realist than Plato?

Answer 58

Aristotle indicated the importance of acquiring knowledge of the real world of nature as we observe it.

Question 59

Why is Aristotle critical of Plato’s Republic? (see pgs. 108-111)

Answer 59

Main complaint was that the Republic sketched a politics at war with human nature.

• It was a lot about Plato’s classes of ruler/guardian/farmer or artisan

Question 60

How does Aristotle’s teleological viewpoint influence his political theory? (see pgs. 111-112)

Answer 60

Nature designs men and women,
masters and slaves, to fulfill different functions, and the good city puts
these parts together into a coherent functional whole. For Aristotle this
meant that there were natural limits to what we can tinker with politically.
The whole can hardly function harmoniously if it is not in tune
with what nature designs for individual members of the community. Aristotle’s
teleology regards political development, like natural development,
as an orderly process, in which progress comes from realizing the potential
in what already exists in inherited traditions and institutions.

Question 61

Be able to list and define Aristotle’s 3 bad and 3 good forms of government (see ppt. slides)

Answer 61

Good
- Monarchy: “such an one may truly be deemed a god among men, a kingship” (virtue in one)
- Aristocracy: “government formed by best men absolutely” (virtue in many)
-Constitutional Government/ Polity: the attempt to unite the freedom of the poor and the wealth of the rich without giving either predominance

Bad
- Tyranny: by one for his own benefit
- Oligarchy: by wealthy for their own class benefit
- Democracy: the poor rule, by the poor for the poor only

Question 62

What was Aristotle’s preferred practical form of government and why?

Answer 62

Ideal: Monarchy; “all should joyfully obey such a ruler (virtuous), according to what seems to be the order of nature, “king is resource of the better classes against the people, a protector of rich against unjust treatment; of people against insult and oppression”

Practical: Constitutional Government, must have strong-middle class-“for a state men are excluded from office will necessarily be full of enemies”

Question 63

Why did Aristotle think a thriving middle class was so important to a political community?

Answer 63

• “Poverty is the parent in revolution and crime”
• “When there’s no middle class, and the poor great in number, troubles arise and the state soon coomes to an end”
• Political stability depends on social and economic order
• Provides balance and equilibrium

Question 64

What arguments did Aristotle make in favor of a system of private property?

Answer 64

1. Incentive and progress argument (when each have distinct interest, men will not complain of one another, will make more progress because everyone’s in their own business)
2. The pleasure that the ownership of property gives
3. Liberality (no one can do acts of generosity under common ownership)
4. There must be something deeply and enduringly human in the idea of private property, its existed for a long time

Question 65

Who famously said that “it is evident that the state is a creature of nature, and that Man is a political animal”?

Answer 65

Aristotle

Question 66

Be able to describe Aristotle’s view on slavery (see pgs. 116-119)

Answer 66

Aristotle thought that slavery was a natural occurrence. He believed people were born to be “tools” at the expense of others

Question 67

Be able to describe Aristotle’s understanding of justice and how that relates to the concept of equality (see pgs. 119-123)

Answer 67

Aristotle concedes that
justice appears to be relative to the laws and traditions of a given city,
rather than timelessly yoked to natural law and the same everywhere.

-Arithmetic equality: arithmetic equality would produce the injustice of giving
the same rewards and honors to persons who made vastly different contributions to the city
-Proportionate equality: The idea here is that we treat people
fairly in the distribution of power and honor only if we give to them in
proportion to their merits

Question 68

According to Aristotle, what is the primary purpose of the state?

Answer 68

“Exists for the sake of the good life, and not for the sake of life only.”

Question 69

Be able to list at least 3 of the life lessons we can learn from Aristotle according to the lecture.

Answer 69

1. Honesty is the best diplomacy, have it greatly appraised
2. One of the biggest achievements in life is self-understanding
3. Take control of life in your hands and choose the virtues you want to have

Question 70

Be able to describe Cicero’s preferred form of government? Why does he prefer this form?

Answer 70

Compositie state: monarchy, aristocracy, democracy. Mixed government enables each class, through its assigned role in government, to check the irrational excesses of the others and to curb the propensity of any one or more classes to act selfishly and contrary to the public good

• He likes monarchy the most.

Question 71

What is the concept of “natural law” and how does this figure prominently in Cicero’s political philosphy?

Answer 71

• A universal law exists that is eternal in duration and divine character
  -All are subject to the natural law and are able to use their reason to know this law, which enables them to lead the good life and to know their duty as humans and citizens
  -Allows no biases or distinctions based upon race, class, ethnicity, state, or station in life
  -The human family is composed of equals under the natural law

Question 72

What was unique about Cicero and his view of the world that differed from Plato and Aristotle?

Answer 72

Cicero believed that the whole universe is “one commonwealth of which both gods and men are members,” and that “there is no human being of any race who, if he finds a guide, cannot attain to virtue.”

Question 73

Why does Cicero describe the state as “a community of law”?

Answer 73

• A republic is the organization of that community into a political and legal structure so it may endure and prosper
• A commonwealth includes a political role for all citizens (although these roles can vary) together with a degree of personal freedom

Question 74

What role does “reason” play in understanding nature and the law? (see, e.g., pgs. 48-49 of Sabine article)

Answer 74

“Nature is ruled by reason, which God possesses in perfection, and in which man also shares. This natural reason results in a natural law which, binding all rational beings together, includes all human society within its ambit.”

• Natural laws are those that originate in the correct application of human reason
• There is an objective moral truth that or reason can discover, and something is right or good when it is in harmony with that moral truth

Question 75

Be familiar with CIcero’s notion that popular consent is a foundation of legitimate government.

Answer 75

Cicero believed that democracy was good for the state, so people could have their freedoms. (Still believed about mob rule.)

Question 76

But why does Cicero not approve of “democracy”? (see pgs. 61-62 of Sabine article)

Answer 76

Cicero acknowledges that people would be free, at least in the sense that they control all the activities of government at home and abroad. However, he says that the government would eventually be ruled by a turbulent mob.

Question 77

What is Stoicism and how did it influence Cicero?

Hint: Stoicism is school of thought in the Greek & Roman era held that there was a higher authority - Providence - that created Nature, a governing life force.

Answer 77

• Philosophy was a way of life to be put into practice, not merely studied. The fundamental idea was that human beings ought to pursue the good life- the rational life lived in accordance with nature
• Cicero emphasized a universe in which all humans are members of a larger world community, of which all the divergent members are united by reason
  -Reason teaches us to act justly and brings individuals together
  -Reason is the basis for human society, government and law

Question 78

In what sense are individuals within a political society equal according to Cicero?

Answer 78

• “Rule of law”: all citizens are equal before the law, though not in wealth or abilities
  -All people wherever they live and whatever their status is are parts of a universal community of rational beings
  -All humans are members of a common human family that transcends the boundaries of particular governments and states (in this sense, all humans are equal

Question 79

Why did Cicero encourage virtuous citizens to participate in public life and hold office? (See, e.g., pgs. 46-48 of Sabine article)

Answer 79

1. The exercise of virtue and service to one’s commonwealth is a reward in and of itself.
2. Honor and respect earned from one’s fellow citizens is a greater reward that the leisure that one can enjoy if never entering public office
3. Citizens owe a debt to the commonwealth that has cared for them all their lives, i.e., a duty of reciprocity

Question 80

Be able to describe Cicero’s understanding of what “freedom” means (see pgs. 55-56 of Sabine article)?

Answer 80

Freedom means voluntary subjection to the laws and to moral principles
-Absence of all external and arbitrary control except that which is inherent in law and morality
-Freedom is not license to do whatever you want, whenever you want; it is willing submission to the dictates of reason and justice

Question 81

What does Cicero mean when he uses the term “becomingness”?

Answer 81

Becomingness has to do with modesty, moderation, temperance, and proper decorum
-“Whatever is becoming is right, and whatever is right is becoming.”
-Sensual gratification should be kept within limits
-Honorable to live frugally, chastely, circumspectly, soberly
-Becomingness strives after beauty, order, and attire fitted for the work at hand
-Becomingness involves the attitude of the mind and the demeanor and comportment of the body
-Make impulse obedient to reason
-Moderation should characterize all of our actions and pursuits
-Act humbly and accept advice and criticism

Question 82

Be able to list and explain Cicero’s four sources of right.

Answer 82

A. Truth
B. Justice & Beneficence
C. Wisdom
D. Becomingness

Question 83

Be familiar with Cicero’s hierarchy of duties.

Answer 83

A. Our first duty is to the immortal gods
B. Second, to our country
C. Third, to our parents
D. Fourth, to our children and immediate family
E. Fifth, to our extended relations

Question 84

Be familiar with the following quotations from Cicero:

Answer 84

(A) “all sensual pleasure is opposed to the right.”
(B) “what is wrong is never expedient”
(C) “the interest of each individual and that of the entire body of citizens are identical”
(D) “though we could escape the view of gods and men, still nothing ought to be done by us avariciously, nothing unjustly, nothing extravagantly”
(E) “the country alone takes into her embrace all our loves for all, in whose behalf what good man would hesitate to encounter death, if he might thus do her service?”
(F) “there is no human being of any race who, if he finds a guide, cannot attain to virtue”
(G) “true law is right reason in agreement with nature”

Question 85

Be able to sum up Socrates’ political philosophy in one sentence.

Answer 85

The goal of politics is to make the citizens as good as possible so that they live the best lives

Question 86

Be able to sum up Plato’s political philosophy in one sentence.

Answer 86

The best, rational and righteous, political order, which he proposes, leads to a harmonious unity of society and allows each of its parts to flourish, but not at the expense of others.

Question 87

Be able to sum up Aristotle’s political philosophy in one sentence.

Answer 87

Government exists to promote and foster virtue in a way that leads to the good life of its citizens

Question 88

Be able to sum up Cicero’s political philosophy in one sentence.

Answer 88

Cicero advocated for a “composite state” where there would be a blend of three different forms of government: monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. This way, the government would be more stable.

-Monarchy (reason)
-Aristocracy (wisdom)
-Democracy (freedom)

Question 89

Who is your favorite thinker that we have studied for so far? Why?

Answer 89

Cicero. He had a universal outlook of the world, unlike Plato and Aristotle who only thought of the city-state. I liked Cicero’s thoughts of everyone being parts of a universal community. That all people are members of a common human family that transcends the boundaries of particular governments and states. So in a way, all humans are equal.