Religions & Philosophy

Question 1

What are the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism?

Answer 1

1 - identifies the presence of suffering.
2 - seeks to determine the cause of suffering.
3 - the truth of the end of suffering whether in life, life on earth, or in the spiritual life.
4 - charts the method for attaining the end of suffering.

Question 2

What is Nirvana?

Answer 2

Buddhists believe they can achieve an end to suffering by reaching Nirvana, a transcendent state free from suffering and our worldly cycle of birth and rebirth.

Question 3

Founder of Buddhism

Answer 3

Siddhartha Gautama, renamed “Buddha” meaning “Enlightened One”.

Question 4

According to Buddhism, what lies at the root of suffering?

Answer 4

Desire - craving material goods, pleasure, and immortality, all of which can never be satisfied.
Ignorance - not seeing the world as it is. Without the capacity for mental concentration and insight, one’s mind is left undeveloped and unable to grasp the true nature of things. Vices such as greed, envy, hatred and anger, derive from this ignorance.

Question 5

In Buddhism, what are the steps of the Noble Eightfold Path?

Answer 5

1 - Right Understanding
2 - Right Thought
3 - Right Speech
4 - Right Action
5 - Right Livelihood
6 - Right Effort
7 - Right Mindfulness
8 - Right Concentration

Question 6

What is the Buddhist idea of karma?

Answer 6

Good actions - generosity, righteousness and meditation bring on a happy life.
Bad actions - lying, stealing, killing, bring about unhappiness.

Question 7

In Buddhism, karma plays out in the cycle of rebirth. There are 6 separate planes into which an individual can be reborn. What are they?

Answer 7

Three fortunate realms: 1) realm of Demi-gods; 2) realm of gods; 3) realm of men

Three unfortunate realms: 1) realm of animals; 2) realm of ghosts; 3) hell

Question 8

In Buddhism, of the realms, which is considered the highest realm of rebirth and why?

Answer 8

Realm of man because, although it lacks some of the extravagances of the gods/demigods, it’s free from their relentless conflict. The suffering of man is far less than the three unfortunate realms.

Question 9

What are some common beliefs to all Hindus?

Answer 9

• a belief in many gods, which are seen as manifestations of a single unity. These deities are linked to universal and natural processes.
• a preference for one deity while not excluding or disbelieving others
• a belief in the universal law of cause and effect (karma) and reincarnation
• a belief in the possibility of liberation and release (moksha) by which the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (samsara) can be resolved

Question 10

What are the 6 main beliefs of Islam?

Answer 10

Belief in Allah as the one and only God.
Belief in angels.
Belief in the holy books.
Belief in the Prophets... e.g. Adam, Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), Dawud (David), Isa (Jesus). ...
Belief in the Day of Judgement... ...
Belief in Predestination...

Question 11

What are the Five Pillars of Islam?`

Answer 11

Profession of Faith (shahada). The belief that "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God" is central to Islam. ...
Prayer (salat). ...
Alms (zakat). ...
Fasting (sawm). ...
Pilgrimage (hajj).

Question 12

Philosopher, economist, political theorist and socialist revolutionary, best-known for the 1848 pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto and the three-volume Das Kapital. His theories maintained that class conflict leads to the development of human societies and that internal tension is inherent in capitalism, which would ultimately be replaced by the socialist mode of production.

Answer 12

Karl Marx

Question 13

Regarded as the father of psychoanalysis. He was a neurologist who believed. .

Answer 13

Sigmund Freud

Question 14

Russian-American philosopher and writer, who, part from publishing two best-selling novels, is credited with developing a philosophical system called Objectivism

Answer 14

Ayn Rand

Question 15

Widely regarded as the father of analytical psychology, he is one of the most important contributors to symbolization and dream analysis. The concepts of socionics and a popular psychometric instrument called Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) were developed from his theory. Apart from working as a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, he was also an artist, craftsman, builder, and prolific writer.

Answer 15

Carl Jung

Question 16

argued that the supreme principle of morality is a standard of rationality that he dubbed the “Categorical Imperative” (CI). He characterized the CI as an objective, rationally necessary and unconditional principle that we must always follow despite any natural desires or inclinations we may have to the contrary. All specific moral requirements, according to him, are justified by this principle, which means that all immoral actions are irrational because they violate the CI.

Answer 16

Immanuel Kant

Question 17

German philosopher and cultural critic who published intensively in the 1870s and 1880s. He is famous for uncompromising criticisms of traditional European morality and religion, as well as of conventional philosophical ideas and social and political pieties associated with modernity. Many of these criticisms rely on psychological diagnoses that expose false consciousness infecting people’s received ideas. One famous quote of his was, “God is Dead.”

Answer 17

Friedrich Nietzche

Question 18

A Danish theologian, social critic, and philosopher, who is viewed by many as the most important existentialist philosopher. His work dealt largely with the idea of the single individual. His thinking tended to prioritize concrete reality over abstract thought. Within this construct, he viewed personal choice and commitment as preeminent. This orientation played a major part in his theology as well. He focused on the importance of the individual’s subjective relationship with God, and his work addressed the themes of faith, Christian love, and human emotion.

Answer 18

Kierkegaard

Question 19

His most important contribution to Western thought is the concept of natural theology (sometimes referred to as Thomism in tribute to his influence). This belief system holds that the existence of God is verified through reason and rational explanation, as opposed to through scripture or religious experience.

Answer 19

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Question 20

Boston-born writer, philosopher, and poet, the father of the transcendentalist movement. This was a distinctly American philosophical orientation that rejected the pressures imposed by society, materialism, and organized religion in favor of the ideals of individualism, freedom, and a personal emphasis on the soul’s relationship with the surrounding natural world.

Answer 20

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Question 21

Held the conviction that the study of philosophy must begin through a close and ongoing study of history; Demanded that social constructs be more closely examined for hierarchical inequalities, as well as through an analysis of the corresponding fields of knowledge supporting these unequal structures; Believed oppressed humans are entitled to rights and they have a duty to rise up against the abuse of power to protect these rights.

Answer 21

Michel Foucault

Question 22

Scottish-born historian, economist, and philosopher, often grouped with thinkers as part of a movement called British Empiricism. He was focused on creating a “naturalistic science of man” that delves into the psychological conditions defining human nature. In contrast to rationalists, he was preoccupied with the way that passions (as opposed to reason) govern human behavior. This, he argued, predisposed human beings to knowledge founded not on the existence of certain absolutes but on personal experience. As a consequence of these ideas, Hume would be among the first major thinkers to refute dogmatic religious and moral ideals in favor of a more sentimentalist approach to human nature.

Answer 22

David Hume

Question 23

English physicist and philosopher during the Enlightenment period. Coined the term tabula rasa (blank slate) to denote that the human mind is born unformed, and that ideas and rules are only enforced through experience thereafter;
Established the method of introspection, focusing on one’s own emotions and behaviors in search of a better understanding of the self;
His philosophy is said to have figured prominently into the formulation of the Declaration of Independence that initiated America’s war for independence from the British.

Answer 23

John Locke

Question 24

Greek philosopher who expressed the view that those whose beliefs are limited only to perception are failing to achieve a higher level of perception, one available only to those who can see beyond the material world; Articulated the theory of forms, the belief that the material world is an apparent and constantly changing world but that another, invisible world provides unchanging causality for all that we do see;

Answer 24

Plato

Question 25

Enlightenment philosopher whose most important works would identify personal property as the root to inequality and would refute the premise that monarchies are divinely appointed to rule. He proposed the earth-shattering idea that only the people have a true right to rule. These ideas fomented the French Revolution, and more broadly, helped bring an end to a centuries-old entanglement between Church, Crown, and Country. He may be credited for providing a basic framework for classical republicanism, a form of government centered around the ideas of civil society, citizenship, and mixed governance.

Answer 25

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Question 26

Believed that human beings are “condemned to be free,” that because there is no Creator who is responsible for our actions, each of us alone is responsible for everything we do; Called for the experience of “death consciousness,” an understanding of our mortality that promotes an authentic life, one spent in search of experience rather than knowledge; Argued that the existence of free will is in fact evidence of the universe’s indifference to the individual, an illustration that our freedom to act toward objects is essentially meaningless and therefore of no consequence to be intervened upon by the world.

Answer 26

Jean-Paul Satre

Question 27

Greek philosopher who believed in the use of of questioning and discourse to promote open dialogue on complex topics and to lead pupils to their own insights.
Believed misdeeds were a consequence of ignorance, that those who engaged in nonvirtuous behavior did so because they didn’t know any better.

Answer 27

Socrates

Question 28

English philosopher, scientist, and historian, best known for his political philosophy, especially as articulated in his masterpiece Leviathan (1651). He viewed government primarily as a device for ensuring collective security. Political authority is justified by a hypothetical social contract among the many that vests in a sovereign person or entity the responsibility for the safety and well-being of all. In metaphysics, he defended materialism, the view that only material things are real.

Answer 28

Thomas Hobbes

Question 29

One of the first British empiricists, he argued in “Essay Concerning Human Understanding” that knowledge is not innate but is rather determined by experience and sense perception.

Answer 29

John Locke

Question 30

Which philosopher wrote “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” which became the inspiration for a tone poem of the same name by Richard Strauss

Answer 30

Friedrich Nietzsche

Question 31

St. Thomas Aquinas is said to have said, “Beware the Man of One Book.” Such an expression is commonly called

Answer 31

An aphorism

Question 32

This mathematician and philosopher emphasized the use of reason as the only reliable method of attaining knowledge and promoted deduction as a preeminent methodology. His “Discourse on Method”, with its pronouncement, “I think, therefore I am”, is thought by many scholars to be a key work in the development of modern philosophy.

Answer 32

Renee’ Descartes