Greeks
What is Plato/Socrate's definition of justice?
"Justice is the minding of one's own business and not being a busybody..." (Republic, 433a)
"The having and doing of one's own and what belongs to oneself would agreed to be justice." (Republic, 434a)
Who is the philosopher that Lucretius praises and attributes (near) godhood to?
Epicurus
Deucalion and Pyrrha
Why does Augustine disapprove of babies?
Because they are representative of the human inclination to wickedness, even unconsciously.
What is the relationship of beauty to goodness to Confucius?
Goodness and beauty are mutually exclusive; if something is good, it is beautiful, and vice versa.
Name the thought experiment that Plato proposes in order to examine whether a man with unlimited power would be just. *Hint* The same story appears in Herodotus' Histories.
The Ring of Gyges
Does Lucretius propose a deterministic or indeterministic view of the universe? To what does he ascribe free will?
Which god grants Midas the golden touch? Which god curses him with donkey ears?
What is the famous phrase that Augustine hears that eventually helps lead him to conversion?
Tolle lege, tolle lege (take up and read, take up and read)
What natural simile does Lao Tzu write in reference to the Tao (way).
The good life/tao is like a stream, flowing downhill.
According to Aristotle, what is the "perfect plot" in relation to the tragic hero?
Must have a single issue; the change in the hero's fortune must be from happiness to misery because of a mistake.
What is the relationship between the honourable and the beneficial to Cicero?
What is beneficial necessarily also is honourable by definition; conversely, what is honourable will also be beneficial.
What is the name of Aeneas' son? What was his father's name? What was his wife's name?
Ascanius/Iulus; Anchises; Creusa
What is God, according to Anselm?
That which than nothing greater can be thought of.
Which eastern philosopher explicitly wrote on the value of respecting one's elders?
Confucius
Explain Plato's Allegory of the Cave/Explain the moral lesson.
All of us naturally exist in a "cave" of misinformation or ignorance. However, if we are able to break free and glimpse the truth, it may at first hurt, but it is infinitely better to try to attain the light than continue being deceived by the shadows; so we have a duty to seek out the truth.
What particular philosophical principles are expressed both by Lucretius and Epictetus?
A certain disregard/lack of fear for death; individual striving to be god (and not just rely on the gods' help); that ultimately nature/the cosmos is intrinsically good.
How does Aeneas/How do the Trojans know when they have reached their final destination?
While they are using bread as a table, Ascanius remarks that they are now "eating their own tables"
Which philosopher does Plotinus draw inspiration from? What idea is this most evident in?
Plato; Plotinus' theory of a communion or unity of souls is similar to Plato's theory (Plato also claimed that the soul was a higher entity already equipped with an intrinsic knowledge of the good, but that it forgets because of the earthly confines)
What is your duty, according to Santideva, in relation to the world?
To take on as much suffering as you can to reduce the suffering of others (you, being in the awakened state).
Explain Plato's theory of the tripartite soul (and what he argues we should do according to his theory).
The soul has three parts: vegetative, appetitive, and rational. A man who is overtaken by the vegetative is insipid; a man overtaken by thumos, the appetitive, is hot-headed and rash. However, the man governed by the rational part of his soul is good and just; so, we should all order ourselves so that we are governed by reason.
Explain the stoic philosophical model of life as Epictetus describes.
The stoics are most concerned with the individual and the proper use of impressions. Especially in reaction to the external events around us, the stoics propose that a person should seek to rationally evaluate whether an event is really good/bad or not/if such an event is truly harmful or not. Once a person comes to realize that the only harmful/bad thing is vice and the only good is virtue, he should then live in such a fashion that he prioritizes virtue and proper conduct above all else.
Who, other than Aeneas, explicitly displays pietas in the Aeneid? *Hint* Virgil himself remarks upon this character
Lausus, son of Mezentius.
Lay out Anselm's basic argument for the existence of God (also known as the ontological argument).
P1) God is that-than-which-nothing-greater-can-be-thought.
P2) There are two forms of existence: existence only in the mind, or existence in reality and mind.
P3) Things that exist in reality are definitionally better than that which exists purely in the mind.
P4) If God is that-than-which but existed only in the mind, there would be something that could be thought of that is better than him.
C: God must exist.
Which other philosophers is Santideva reminiscent of in his distaste for the body? Which philosophers would have disagreed with him?
Augustine, Plotinus, Plato, Epictetus; Epicurus/Lucretius, Anselm, Cicero