The Man Who Asked Questions Flashcards
About 2,400 years ago, a man was put to death for…
asking too many questions.
In which wars and against which enemies did Socrates fought bravely as a soldier in this youth?
In the Peloponnesian Wars, against the Spartans and their allies.
What Socrates used to do during middle age as he shuffled around the marketplace in Athens?
He stopped some people from time to time and asked them awkward questions.
In the conversation that Socrates had with Euthydemus, how did his counter-example prove that being deceitful doesn’t always count as immoral?
In the mentioned hypothetical scenario, Euthydemus would be committing a deceitful act for a morally good reason.
Socrates loved to…
reveal the limits of what people genuinely understood, and to question the assumptions on which they built their lives.
What was the function of the Sophists in Athens?
Teaching sons of wealthy men the art of speech-making.
Which was the answer that the oracle of Apollo gave when Chaerophon asked if there was anyone wiser than Socrates?
‘No, no one is wiser than Socrates.’
Why was the oracle’s affirmation that there was nobody wiser than Socrates correct?
Because Socrates was good at being truly wise and understanding things better than anyone else.
What was the meaning of wisdom for Socrates?
Understanding the true nature of our existence, including the limits of what we can know.
Philosophers today are doing more or less what Socrates was doing: …
asking tough questions, looking at reasons and evidence, struggling to answer some of the most important questions we can ask ourselves about the nature of reality and how we should live.
Life, he declared, is only worth living if…
you think about what you are doing.
Why did Socrates considered that talking is better than writing?
Because written words can’t explain you anything when you don’t understand them.
Why was Plato considered the Shakespeare of his day?
Because he wrote down a series of conversations between Socrates and the People he questioned, the Platonic Dialogues.
One of the ideas that most people believe is Plato’s rather than Socrates’ is…
that the world is not at all what it seems. There is a significant difference between appearance and reality.
Plato believed that…
only philosophers understand what the world is truly like.
In Plato’s Cave Analogy, that describes an imaginary scenario of three men chained on a cave while seeing flickering shadows in front of them that they blindly believe to be real things, what does the man who first breaks free and sees beyond the appearances how reality really is represents?
A Philosopher
What does Plato’s Theory of Forms consist on?
That anything we grasp through our senses is an imperfect example derived from a Form, an abstract idea.
Why Plato believed that the philosophers should be in charge of society and have all political power on their hands?
Because they were good at thinking about reality, so they would always be the best and most reliable leaders that a society could have.
Why did Plato condemned art?
Because works of art mimic appearances, that are deceptive about the Forms, giving false representations of reality.
Which was the most prominent characteristic of Democracy in Athens?
The citizens were equal before the law, and there was an elaborate lottery system to make sure that everyone had a fair chance of influencing political decisions.
Which accusations did Meletus use in the court against Socrates?
That he was neglecting the Athenian Gods, introducing new ones of his own and even suggested that he was teaching young men to misbehave and turn against authorities.
How did Socrates respond to the Athenians once they declared his death sentence?
He argued that he did nothing wrong and that they should, in fact, be rewarding him by giving him free meals for life instead of punishing him.
Which was the death penalty that Socrates received?
Being forced to drink Hemlock poison.
Why did Socrates accept his death sentence?
Because he would rather die than stop thinking about how things really are.
What is the meaning of the word “philosophy”?
Love of Wisdom.
About 2,400 years ago, in _________, a man was put to death for asking too many questions.
Athens
As a young man, he had been a brave soldier fighting in the _____________ Wars
Peloponnesian
An example was his conversation with ________________.
Euthydemus
The _________ were clever teachers who would coach their students in the art of speech-making.
Sophists
The _________ was a wise old woman
Oracle
‘Is anyone wiser than _________?’
Socrates
The word ‘_____________’ comes from the Greek words meaning ‘love of wisdom’.
Philosopher
These are known as __________ and are great works if literature as well as philosophy.
Platonic Dialogues
__________ believed that only philosophers understand what the world is truly like.
Plato
Painters paint appearances, but appearances are deceptive about the ____________.
Forms
