Lecture 1: Prehistory & Classical Antiquity

Question 1

Preliterate civilization

Answer 1

Civilization before writing was invented

Question 2

Animism

Answer 2

Explanation of the workings of the world and the universe by means of spirits with human-like characteristics

Question 3

Pictogram

Answer 3

An information-conveying sign that consists of a picture resembling the erosion, animal or object it represents

Question 4

phonogram

Answer 4

A sign that represents a sound or syllable of spoken language; forms the basis of writing systems

Question 5

Logograph

Answer 5

A sign representing a spoken word, which no longer has a physical resemblance to the word’s meaning

Question 6

Scholastic method

Answer 6

Study method in which students unquestioningly memorize and recite texts that are thought to convey unchanging truths

Question 7

Place coding system

Answer 7

System in which the meaning of a sign not only depends on its form but also on its position in a string

Question 8

Fertile Crescent

Answer 8

Region in the Middle East with a high level of civilization around 3000 BCE; included the Ancient Mesopotamian and the Ancient Egyptian civilizations

Question 9

Philosophy

Answer 9

Critical reflection on the universe and human functioning; started in Ancient Greece

Question 10

Syllogism

Answer 10

Argument consisting of three propositions; major and minor premise and conclusion. The goal of logic is to determine which syllogisms lead to valid conclusions and which do not

Question 11

Dark Ages

Answer 11

Name given in the Renaissance to the Middle Ages, to refer to the lack if independent and scientific thinking in that age

Question 12

Renaissance

Answer 12

Cultural movement from the 14th to the 17th century based on a rediscovery and imitation of the classical Greek and Roman civilizations

Question 13

Zeitgeist

Answer 13

Word used in the history of science to indicate that the time was right for a certain discovery; the discovery did not originate from a single genius, but from a much wider development leading to the discovery

Question 14

Matthew effect

Answer 14

The tendency to give more credit to well-known scientists than they deserve; increases the perceived impact of these scientists

Question 15

Hindsight bias

Answer 15

The assumption that individual scholars in history books knew much more than they actually did

Question 16

What is representation and why was it so important

Answer 16

Representation is when things are denoted with symbols and relations between things are denoted with relations between symbols; it made it possible to have shared representations, which meant ideas could be spread easily and could be sustained over generations

Question 17

What repercussions did the discovery of agriculture have

Answer 17

People could stay in one place, which allowed them to not focus only on survival and therefore have more time and they also had the means (language/writing) —> led to scientific thinking

Question 18

What questions are linked to ontology and epistemology

Answer 18

Ontology; what is the world like
Epistemology; how do we know what’s true

Question 19

What was the most important point of Heraclitus

Answer 19

Panta rei = everything flows, nothing stays the same

Question 20

What is rationalism and empiricism

Answer 20

Rationalism; knowledge can be known by reasoning and thinking - people are born with knowledge
Empiricism; humans are born as a blank slate (tabula rasa) and knowledge is acquired through sensory perception and observation

Question 21

T/F; Socrates was a student of Plato

Answer 21

False, Plato was a student of Socrates

Question 22

Plato was a … (rationalist/empiricist)

Answer 22

Rationalist

Question 23

What is nativism

Answer 23

The claim that there is innate knowledge that humans are born with

Question 24

What three distinctions did Plato make of the soul

Answer 24

1. Reason (brain)
2. Sensation and emotion (heart)
3. Appetite and lower passion (liver)

Question 25

Aristotle was an … (rationalist/empiricist)

Answer 25

Empiricist

Question 26

What is one big distinction between the Greeks and the Romans

Answer 26

The Romans were much more practical than the Greek, they made more technological inventions and improvements

Question 27

What happened to schools in the Hellenistic period (3)

Answer 27

They get a strong psychological-practical component;
- stoicism; it is best to minimize your feelings
- Epicureanism; happiness is the ultimate pursuit, which you achieve by living your life as balanced as possible
- skepticism; refrain from judgement

Question 28

What 4 changes did book printing results in

Answer 28

1. Knowledge came within much more reach
2. No more rarity of books and fear of destruction
3. No more transcription errors
4. Multiple scholars could work on the same copy

Question 29

What are 5 biases in historic writing

Answer 29

1. Too much countered on persons; whoever made the discoveries isn’t very important since they probably would have been made anyways —> zeitgeist
2. Matthew effect
3. Hindsight bias
4. Ethnocentrism
5. History reviews are summaries of summaries

Question 30

What is ethnocentrism

Answer 30

Authors have a tendency to attach excessive weight to the contribution of their own group and that of their readers

Question 31

Explain the main point of Plato’s cave

Answer 31

Plato describes a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire behind them and give names to these shadows. The shadows are the prisoners’ reality, but are not accurate representations of the real world. The shadows represent the fragment of reality that we can normally perceive through our senses, while the objects under the sun (outside of the cave) represent the true forms of objects that we can only perceive through reason. One person is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are actually not the direct source of the images seen. A philosopher aims to understand and perceive the higher levels of reality like the person freed from the cave. However, the other inmates of the cave do not even desire to leave their prison, for they know no better life.

Question 32

What are 3 kinds of knowledge that Aristotle identified

Answer 32

1. Productive knowledge - concerned with making things
2. Practical knowledge - concerned with rules on how to act
3. Theoretical knowledge - concerned with truth

Question 33

What 3 things is knowledge based on according to Aristotle

Answer 33

• sensory experiences
• induction
• logic —> it does not tell us what to think but how we get from premise to conclusion

Question 34

What effect did the Protestant reformation have

Answer 34

Since they wanted to rebel against the Catholic Church, they gave more importance to education and critical thinking

Question 35

What are 3 characteristics of preliterate civilizations

Answer 35

1. Know-how knowledge without theoretical knowledge
2. Fluidity of knowledge
3. Myths and stories in which human traits are projected on objects/events

Question 36

When did the prehistory turn into history

Answer 36

Around 5000 BC when language developed

Question 37

What is the most important thing that Phyrro emphasized

Answer 37

• Articulates skepticism
• maintains that one can never know anything for sure
• the importance of justifying knowledge claims

Question 38

Why were Plato’s books very widely available

Answer 38

Because his view appealed to the church

Question 39

What is the peripatetic principle

Answer 39

Nothing is in the intellect that wasn’t first in the senses, our mind was initially empty when we are born, and is filled by the knowledge we gain from observation.

Question 40

What were 3 reasons for why the medieval times suffered a severe decline in scientific knowledge

Answer 40

1. The church did not encourage critical thinking and was not interested in natural sciences
2. There was political upheaval
3. Economic downfall

Question 41

What were 4 post-medieval developments in Western Europe

Answer 41

1. Establishment of schools/universities
2. Increased mobility of scholars
3. Discovery of Ancient Greek/Arabic texts
4. Growing impact of Aristotle’s work