Midterm

Question 1

What is Anthropotechnics?

Answer 1

The study of practicing life

Question 2

What three immune systems does Sloterdijk claim protect us as a species?

Answer 2

biological, socio-immunological, psycho-imunological

Question 3

How does Sloterdijk distinguish between the Vertical and the Horizontal?

Answer 3

Vertical: The hierarchical dimension of human practice that ranks in terms of achievement roles
Horizontal: The dimension of human practice that distinguishes between things without ranking one over the other

Question 4

What three things ‘automatize’ us and need to be changed through ascetic practices to make us freer?

Answer 4

Social Conformity, Technological Dependency, Consumerism and Materialism

Question 5

What are the five human needs or vulnerabilities that ascetic practices attempt to master? Explain them and how they try to master (or overcome) each.

Answer 5

Hunger, Overtaxing, sexual need, Domination and Enmity, Dying

Question 6

What two historical developments have undercut the credibility of asceticism in the modern age? Explain.

Answer 6

The democratic spirit, improved living conditions. Extreme measures to overcome extreme conditions are no longer necessary

Question 7

What is the difference between a craft and a knack? Explain. Know the crafts and knacks Socrates mentions and how they relate to each other.

Answer 7

Crafts are teachable skills or knowledge that involve a deeper understanding of the subject matter. They are based on principles and aim at achieving some genuine good or virtue.
Knacks, on the other hand, are more like practical, situational skills acquired through trial and error.

Question 8

What argument does Socrates give to demonstrate that committing injustice is worse (more ‘evil’) than suffering injustice?

Answer 8

He argues that when someone commits an injustice, they harm their own soul by acting against reason and virtue.

Question 9

What argument does Socrates give to demonstrate that it’s better to be punished for your crimes than to get away with them?

Answer 9

When one is punished for their wrongdoings, it provides an opportunity for self-examination and correction of one’s behavior. It serves as a means of purifying the soul and promoting moral growth.

Question 10

According to Callicles, who created laws and customs (nomos), and for what reason?

Answer 10

laws and customs are created by the weak and conventional-minded people in society. He thinks that these norms are established to restrain the strong and intelligent individuals, thereby preventing them from exercising their natural power and desires fully.

Question 11

Callicles claims that the good life is one where someone lacks all self-control and indulges in every possible pleasure and desire they can. But Socrates gives two arguments for why pleasure and the good are not the same. What are they?

Answer 11

He argues that pleasure is not always a reliable indicator of what is good because people can experience pleasure from things that are harmful or immoral.
Socrates also emphasizes the importance of rationality and self-control in leading a truly good life. He believes that a life driven solely by the pursuit of pleasure lacks the discipline and wisdom necessary for genuine moral excellence and fulfillment.

Question 12

According to Phaedrus, what does love bring out of us, and why?

Answer 12

Love brings out the greatest courage and valor in individuals. He argues that people who are in love are willing to perform remarkable deeds and even risk their lives to earn the admiration and approval of their beloved.

Question 13

According to Pausanius, what is the difference between Heavenly Love and Common Love?

Answer 13

Heavenly Love is associated with the love of the mind and soul. Common Love, on the other hand, is characterized by a focus on physical attraction and desire.

Question 14

What does Eryximachus think love is? How does it differ from the speeches given before?

Answer 14

Eryximachus believes that love is a cosmic and universal force that governs not only human relationships but also the entire natural world

Question 15

What, according to Aristophanes, is the origin of Love? What does it imply about what Love is?

Answer 15

Originally, humans were round and had four arms, four legs, and two faces. They were exceptionally powerful and could move swiftly. These original humans had a dual nature, with two genders combined into one being. They were called “androgynes.” Aristophanes’ account implies that love is a powerful force that drives humans to seek wholeness and connection with another person who complements them.

Question 16

What does Agathon think Love is? How does his speech differ from the previous speeches?

Answer 16

He emphasizes the positive qualities of love, focusing on its attributes of youth, beauty, courage, and virtue. Agathon highlights the virtue of love, portraying it as a force that inspires courage and moral excellence in individuals

Question 17

What mistake does Socrates claim Agathon makes when describing Love?

Answer 17

The mistake that Socrates identifies in Agathon’s speech is that Agathon presents love as being a god who possesses attributes like beauty, wisdom, and goodness.

Question 18

What is Love, according to Socrates? What do we really desire?

Answer 18

Love is the desire for the good and the beautiful. Love is seen as a form of longing for something beyond the physical world, something transcendent and eternal. It is a desire for the ultimate good, which is often referred to as the Form of the Beautiful.

Question 19

What are the two kinds of reproduction? Which does Socrates favor and why?

Answer 19

Physical Reproduction. Intellectual or Spiritual Reproduction. Socrates favors intellectual. Intellectual reproduction is seen as a way of achieving a lasting legacy.

Question 20

What is the Ladder of Love? What do we finally achieve by ascending it to the top?

Answer 20

It is a metaphorical framework that represents the progression and development of one’s understanding and experience of love from lower, physical forms to higher, more intellectual and spiritual ones. In essence, by reaching the top of the Ladder of Love and contemplating the Form of the Beautiful, individuals achieve a state of intellectual and spiritual enlightenment, where they are in harmony with the highest and most profound aspects of reality.

Question 21

What is good and what is bad, according to Epicurus?

Answer 21

Good: According to Epicurus, the highest good is pleasure (hedonism). He defines pleasure as the absence of physical and mental pain (aponia) and the presence of physical and mental pleasure (ataraxia). Pleasure, in Epicurean philosophy, is the ultimate goal and the basis for evaluating what is good.
Bad: Epicurus considers pain (both physical and mental) to be the ultimate evil or bad. Anything that causes physical or mental pain is considered bad.

Question 22

Understand what makes an action choiceworthy (if it brings about more long-term pleasure, even if there is short-term pain). Know how to apply this.

Answer 22

Epicurus believes that an action is choiceworthy if it ultimately leads to more long-term pleasure, even if there is short-term pain or discomfort.

Question 23

Why does Epicurus say you ought to be just and obey laws? Know how to apply this.

Answer 23

Epicurus advises being just and obeying laws because doing so contributes to a stable and peaceful society.

Question 24

Know what the three kinds of desires (or pleasures) are and how to identify them.

Answer 24

Natural and Necessary Desires: These are basic and essential desires, such as the desire for food, shelter, and friendship.
Natural but Non-Necessary Desires: These are desires that are natural but not essential, such as the desire for luxurious food, extravagant clothing, or fame.
Vain and Empty Desires: These are desires that are neither natural nor necessary, such as the desire for unlimited wealth or immortality. .

Question 24

According to Epicurus, why shouldn’t we fear death?

Answer 24

Epicurus argues that death should not be feared because it is the cessation of sensation and consciousness.

Question 24

What two superstitions does Epicurus think causes humanity the most anxiety?

Answer 24

Epicurus believed that the fear of death and the fear of the gods were two superstitions that caused humanity the most anxiety.

Question 25

Why, according to Epicurus, is the soul mortal?

Answer 25

Epicurus posits that the soul is composed of atoms, just like the body. It is not immortal or divine but rather a material entity. When the body dies, the soul disintegrates along with it.

Question 26

According to Epicurus why shouldn’t we fear the gods?

Answer 26

Epicurus argues that the gods, if they exist, are far removed from human affairs and do not interfere with or punish humans.

Question 27

What are Aristotle’s three kinds of friendship? Know about them.

Answer 27

Friendships of Utility. Friendships of Pleasure. True Friendship.

Question 28

Friendships of Utility. Friendships of Pleasure. True Friendship.

Answer 28

In true friendships, individuals love each other for their character and virtue, which are stable and enduring qualities. True friends seek each other’s well-being and growth in virtue, and their friendship is rooted in a deep and lasting connection.

Question 29

What are the three ‘good’ political systems and the corrupted form of each?

Answer 29

Monarchy (Rule by One): The corrupted form of monarchy is tyranny.
Aristocracy (Rule by the Best): The corrupted form of aristocracy is oligarchy, where a privileged few, often based on wealth, hold power and oppress the rest of the population.
Polity (Rule by the Many): The corrupted form of polity is democracy

Question 30

Aristotle addresses the question of whether the ‘better’ deserve more than the needy. What does Aristotle think the better are owed and what are the needy owed?

Answer 30

Aristotle argues that the “better” (the virtuous and well-off) should be given honor and respect. Aristotle believes that the “needy” (the less fortunate or those in need of assistance) are owed assistance to meet their basic needs and opportunities to develop their moral character.

Question 31

What are both Freud’s Topographical Model and Structural Model of the Psyche?

Answer 31

Topographical: Conscience, Preconscious, Unconscious,

Structural: Id, Ego, superego

Question 32

What are the 5 Stages of Psychosexual Development? How are adult sexual and romantic expressions determined by them?

Answer 32

Oral Stage: (0-18 months) Pleasure is focused on the mouth, and infants derive pleasure from sucking, biting, and tasting. Oral fixation might lead to oral-dependent or oral-aggressive traits in adulthood.
Anal Stage: (18 months-3 years) Pleasure is centered on bowel and bladder control. Fixation can result in anal-retentive or anal-expulsive personality traits.
Phallic Stage: (3-6 years) Focus is on the genitals. Children develop the Oedipus or Electra complex and resolve it by identifying with the same-sex parent.
Latency Stage: (6-12 years) Sexual desires are repressed, and children focus on developing social and cognitive skills.
Genital Stage: (12 years and beyond) Sexual desires reawaken and become directed towards appropriate love objects.

Question 33

What are the 2 love object-choice models an infant can unconsciously adopt that later shape sexual and romantic partner choice?

Answer 33

Anaclitic Object-Choice. Introjective Object-Choice.