Deck 1: The Nature of Philosophy

Question 1

The view of philosophy as the activity of examining our assumptions and beliefs about ourselves and the universe around us was expressed by

A) Plato.
B) Perictione.
C) Aristotle.
D) Buddha.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Who said that whatever the gods love is holy?

A) Socrates
B) Plato
C) Euripides
D) Euthyphro

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Holbach was a determinist.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The idea of karma can combine

A) rightness and wrongness.
B) determinism and freedom.
C) the whole and the part.
D) life and death.

Question 5

What does philosophy literally mean?

A) Love of knowledge
B) Love of nature
C) Love of wisdom
D) Love of life

Question 6

The list of topics on which we can philosophize is strictly limited.

Question 7

Epistemology literally means

A) the study of knowledge.
B) the study of the reality.
C) the study of whether humans are free or unfree.
D) the study of morality.

Question 8

To evaluate a philosopher's claim we need to identify the premises and conclusion of his or her argument.

Question 9

When people talk about getting along, they generally mean satisfying their maintenance needs.

Question 10

According to whom does philosophical knowledge free us from the cycle of birth, suffering, death, and rebirth?

A) Plato
B) Aristotle
C) Krishna
D) Buddha

Question 11

Socrates held that the gods agreed on what is holy.

Question 12

Perictione suggests that philosophy is ultimately a search for an understanding of why we and our universe are here.

Question 13

What is the goal of philosophy?

A) Autonomy
B) Angst
C) Authority
D) Ambivalence

Question 14

Crito was unwilling to help Socrates escape from jail.

Question 15

Who wrote of the Allegory of the Cave?

A) Plato
B) Aristotle
C) Gyges
D) Epicurus

Question 16

Karma means literally

A) action.
B) movement.
C) rightness.
D) fate.

Question 17

In assessing an argument we need only look at its logical form.

Question 18

Plato tells the Allegory of the Cave in the Republic.

Question 19

Gail Stenstad is a

A) Greek theologian.
B) Platonic philosopher.
C) Feminist philosopher.
D) Religious theologian.

Question 20

Philosophy begins with wonder.

Question 21

What philosopher argues for determinism, the view that all things and all human beings are unfree?

A) Paul Henri d'Holbach
B) Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
C) Viktor Frankl
D) Plato

Question 22

The Allegory of the Cave does not suggest that philosophy is an activity

A) that has the aim of freedom.
B) that examines the most basic assumptions of human existence.
C) that is fruitless.
D) that is difficult.

Question 23

When we philosophize we are always engaged in

A) doubting.
B) sensing.
C) a fruitful endeavor.
D) reasoning.

Question 24

is the study of the most general characteristics of reality.

Question 25

Socrates claimed that he had a(n) to obey the law.

Question 26

What subfield of philosophy is concerned with the ultimate characteristics of reality or existence?

A) Epistemology
B) Axiology
C) Metaphysics
D) Science

Question 27

is the view that all things and all human beings are unfree because everything that happens does so in accordance with some law.

Question 28

There is usually something wrong with philosophical claims that are or ambiguous.

Question 29

Gail Stenstad calls the male approach to knowledge thinking.

Question 30

Philosophy is the love and pursuit of

A) pleasure.
B) wisdom.
C) wonder.
D) angst.

Question 31

What subfield of philosophy is concerned with moral values and moral principles?

A) Theology
B) Ethics
C) Metaphysics
D) Epistemology

Question 32

Perictione saw philosophy as a search for

A) understanding.
B) pleasure.
C) equity.
D) love.

Question 33

What philosopher argued that service toward others is our primary moral duty?

A) Aristotle
B) Mahatma Gandhi
C) Plato
D) Harry Browne

Question 34

means "the study of knowledge."

Question 35

____________is the study of morality.

Question 36

What does philosophy begin with?

A) Wonder
B) Despair
C) Confusion
D) Autonomy

Question 37

The freedom of being able to decide for yourself what you will believe is called .

Question 38

Genevieve Lloyd is a(n) philosopher.

Question 39

A claim together with its supporting reasons is called an .

Question 40

Good reasoning is a key not only to philosophy, but to

A) success in getting what you want out of life.
B) generating anxiety.
C) generating doubt.
D) failure to live a proper human life.

Question 41

After reading this chapter do you believe that philosophy is a discipline with a distinct subject-matter, like physics is,
for example, or do you believe that it consists more of a set of techniques? Explain and illustrate your answer.

Question 42

What is Plato's Myth of the Cave, and how does it illustrate the challenges and advantages associated with philosophy?

Question 43

Do you agree with Harry Browne that ethics is just a sham? Why, or why not?

Question 44

Would you prefer to be happy and ignorant, or unhappy, yet wise? Explain your answer.

Question 45

Do you think that we have an obligation to obey the law? What if the law is unjust? Would we still have an obligation to obey it? Or would we instead say that the law in question was not properly a law, since it was unjust? What do your answers to these questions tell you about (a) your views concerning the nature of law; (b) your views concerning the nature of obligation?