Existentialism and Identity

Question 1

BLANK - a certain set of core properties that are necessary, or essential – for a thing to be what it is.

Answer 1

Essence

Question 2

But the important thing is that your essence gives you a purpose. Because you were born to be a certain thing. This belief, known as BLANK

Answer 2

essentialism

Question 3

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, for example, embraced BLANK - the belief in the ultimate meaningless of life.

Answer 3

Nihilism

Question 4

Well, this became the framework for what we now know as existentialism. And its mantra is the claim that “BLANK ” We have no actual, predetermined purpose – there’s no set path that we’re supposed to follow.

Answer 4

“existence precedes essence”

Question 5

The BLANK - the search for answers in an answerless world.

Answer 5

Absurd

Question 6

So the best thing you can really do, he determined, is to BLANK . Sartre used this to mean that you have to accept the full weight of your freedom in light of the absurd.

Answer 6

live authentically

Question 7

BLANK - a refusal to accept the absurd.

Answer 7

Bad Faith

Question 8

BLANK - someone who believed that You equals Your Body – death just meant nonexistence.

Answer 8

Materialist

Question 9

Contemporary American philosopher BLANK points out that some people dread death because they’ll miss out on things that they want to experience.

Answer 9

Thomas Nagel

Question 10

BLANK - It doesn’t matter what the content of that life looks like, or what the person is like. The fact that they’re alive is just good. So, losing it would not be good.

Answer 10

Sanctity of life

Question 11

BLANK - what’s important, then you’re going to want to distinguish between lives that are full of good experiences, and those that aren’t.

Answer 11

Quality of life

Question 12

Chinese Daoist philosopher BLANK . He lived about the same time as Epicurus, and believed that there’s no reason to fear the death of your loved ones. He asked, why would you fear the inevitable? In his view, mourning can actually seem selfish.

Answer 12

Zhuangzi

Question 13

Now here’s the question: When the ship finally returned to Theseus, was it the same ship that left?

Answer 13

NOP-E

Question 14

BLANK - the relation that a thing bears only to itself.

Answer 14

Identity

Question 15

BLANK - if any two things are identical, then they must share all the same properties.

Answer 15

Indiscernibility of Identicals

Question 16

BLANK - the core elements needed for a thing to be the thing that it is.

Answer 16

Essential properties

Question 17

BLANK - are traits that could be taken away from an object without making it a different thing.

Answer 17

Accidental properties

Question 18

Ancient Greek philosopher BLANK famously said that you can’t step in the same river twice. What he meant was: Nothing is identical to itself because everything – including both you and the river – is changing all the time.

Answer 18

Heraclitus

Question 19

It’s BLANK – the property of being interchangeable with other objects of the same kind. Most people think that money is fungible, because it’s just a place-holder for the value it represents – and it’s the value that we really care about.

Answer 19

fungibility

Question 20

Now the coffee mug … this one is interesting. It seems like what matters here is why that mug that Nick broke was my favorite. If I loved it because it’s the perfect size and shape to fit in my hands, and it keeps my coffee warm, then I’d probably be just as happy with a new one. So in that case, the mug appears to be fungible.

Answer 20

BLANK