Deck 2: Plato Knowledge Is Recollection

Question 1

For Socrates,

A) all inquiry and all learning are subject to error.
B) all inquiry and all learning are fleeting images.
C) all inquiry and all learning are memorization.
D) all inquiry and all learning are recollection.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

When the boy asserts that a line of four feet will produce a figure of eight square feet, Socrates points out that the boy ...

A) has made the correct calculation.
B) only guesses that because the square is double, the line is double.
C) has not learned enough mathematics to get the correct answer.
D) sees the correct answer in a dream-like state.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What is Socrates's point when he says, "Do you see, Meno, what advances he [the boy] has made in his power of recollection? He did not know at first, and he does not know now, what is the side of a figure of eight feet. But then he thought that he knew, and answered confidently as if he knew, and had no difficulty. Now he has a difficulty, and neither knows nor thinks that he knows."

A) That the boy is better off in knowing his ignorance.
B) That the boy needs to be taught more of the Greek language.
C) That the boy doesn't understand basic Geometry.
D) That the boy will never be able to solve the problem.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Socrates asks, "If we have made him [the boy] doubt, then have we done him any harm?" Socrates then answers this question by saying ...

A) "we have made the boy so confused that he cannot do the necessary calculation."
B) "the doubt can be removed by teaching the boy more Geometry."
C) "we have certainly assisted him in some degree to the discovery of the truth."
D) "the doubt will go away by itself given enough time."

Question 5

Socrates asks, "What do you say of him [the boy], Meno? Were not all these answers given out of his own head?" Meno's reply is ...

A) "No, you had to teach the boy at every step."
B) "No, he still does not understand the correct answer."
C) "Yes, but I had to show the boy a few of the steps."
D) "Yes, they were all his own."

Question 6

For Socrates, the spontaneous recovery of knowledge is called ...

A) telepathy.
B) recollection.
C) regeneration.
D) transubstantiation.

Question 7

For Socrates, all inquiry and all learning are recollection.

Question 8

When the boy asserts that a line of four feet will produce a figure of eight square feet, Socrates points out that the boy sees the correct answer in a dream-like state.

Question 9

When Socrates says, "Do you see, Meno, what advances he [the boy] has made in his power of recollection? He did not know at first, and he does not know now, what is the side of a figure of eight feet. But then he thought that he knew, and answered confidently as if he knew, and had no difficulty. Now he has a difficulty, and neither knows nor thinks that he knows," Socrates' point is that the boy doesn't understand basic Geometry.

Question 10

Socrates asks, "If we have made him [the boy] doubt, then have we done him any harm?" Socrates then answers this question by saying that "we have certainly assisted him in some degree to the discovery of the truth."

Question 11

Socrates asks, "What do you say of him [the boy], Meno? Were not all these answers given out of his own head?" Meno's reply is "Yes, they were all his own."

Question 12

For Socrates, the spontaneous recovery of knowledge is called "regeneration."

Question 13

What is Socrates's response when Meno asks, "How will you inquire, Socrates, into that which you do not know? What will you put forth as the subject of inquiry? And if you find what you want, how will you ever know that this is the thing which you did not know?"

Question 14

What is Socrates's point when he says, "Do you see, Meno, what advances he has made in his power of recollection? He did not know at first, and he does not know now, what is the side of a figure of eight feet. But then he thought that he knew, and answered confidently as if he knew, and had no difficulty. Now he has a difficulty, and neither knows nor thinks that he knows."

Question 15

Describe Socrates's questioning process as he leads the boy to the solution of the geometrical problem.

Question 16

In your opinion, did Socrates teach the boy or simply have the boy recollect what he already knew? Explain your answer.

Question 17

For Aristotle, a mind is ...

A) a sponge that sucks up knowledge and certainty.
B) a mirror of abstract ideas (universals).
C) like a writing tablet on which as yet nothing actually stands written.
D) like a reincarnated spirit.

Question 18

For Aristotle, "As the faculty of sense is to sensible objects [objects of sense perception], so must intellect be related to ..."

A) intelligible objects.
B) recognizable objects.
C) intuited objects.
D) ideal form objects.

Question 19

Aristotle says, "The mind, since it thinks all things, must be unlike anything it can know; hence it can have no nature of its own, other than that of having a certain ..."

A) agility.
B) formality.
C) capacity.
D) durability.

Question 20

Aristotle says that the intellect is nothing at all actually before it ...

A) sees physical objects.
B) thinks.
C) recollects ideas.
D) is reincarnated.

Question 21

Aristotle holds that we cannot conceive the intellect "to be mixed with the body, for in that case it would ..."

A) be finite.
B) have limited powers.
C) need help to acquire knowledge.
D) acquire some particular quality, for example, cold or heat.

Question 22

Which of the following does Aristotle hold distinguishes the faculties of sense from that of the intellect?

A) The faculties of sense are subject to error, whereas the intellect is infallible.
B) The faculties of sense are not independent of the body, whereas the intellect is independent.
C) The faculties of sense require physical objects, whereas the intellect recollects forms.
D) The faculties of sense require instruction, whereas the intellect has intuitive knowledge.

Question 23

For Aristotle, a mind is a mirror of abstract ideas (universals).

Question 24

For Aristotle, "As the faculty of sense is to sensible objects [objects of sense perception], so must intellect be related to intelligible objects.

Question 25

Aristotle says, "The mind, since it thinks all things, must be unlike anything it can know; hence it can have no nature of its own, other than that of having a certain formality."

Question 26

Aristotle says that the intellect is nothing at all actually before it recollects ideas.

Question 27

Aristotle holds that we cannot conceive the intellect "to be mixed with the body, for in that case it would acquire some particular quality, for example, cold or heat."

Question 28

For Aristotle, the faculties of sense require instruction, whereas the intellect has intuitive knowledge.

Question 29

Why does Aristotle claim that the "intellect is nothing at all actually before it thinks. Thus, we cannot conceive it to be mixed with the body"?

Question 30

What does Aristotle mean when he says that "the soul is a place of forms or ideas . . . that the forms are there not in actuality, but potentially"?

Question 31

Give some examples of how Aristotle distinguishes the faculties of sense from that of intellect?

Question 32

Augustine says, "we both are, and know that we are, and delight in our being, and our knowledge of it. Moreover, in these three things no true-seeming illusion disturbs us" because ...

A) we do not come into contact with these by some bodily sense.
B) we learned these truths only by being taught by others more learned than us.
C) without these things we will commit sins against God.
D) without these things we could not be reincarnated.

Question 33

Augustine says, "we perceive the things outside of us-colors by seeing, sounds by hearing, smells by smelling, tastes by tasting, hard and soft objects by touching-of all which sensible objects it is ..."

A) the actual objects which we perceive perfectly.
B) through the mind of God which grants us direct access to the objects.
C) the images resembling them, but not themselves.
D) through the forms to the objects that we perceive the actual entities.

Question 34

Augustine says that "without any delusive representation of images or phantasms, I am most certain that ..."

A) physical objects necessarily exist outside of me.
B) God will not deceive me because he is all-good.
C) the truths of mathematics are absolute.
D) I am, and that I know and delight in this.

Question 35

What is Augustine's answer to the skeptics who say, "What if you are deceived?"

A) "If so, then God is not all-good, which is impossible."
B) "If I am deceived, I am."
C) "Then knowledge is impossible."
D) "Then an evil demon torments me."

Question 36

Augustine concludes that "as I know that I am, so I know this also, that ..."

A) God exists.
B) I know.
C) physical objects exist.
D) my soul is immortal.

Question 37

Augustine says, "we both are, and know that we are, and delight in our being, and our knowledge of it. Moreover, in these three things no true-seeming illusion disturbs us" because we do not come into contact with these by some bodily sense.

Question 38

Augustine says, "we perceive the things outside of us-colors by seeing, sounds by hearing, smells by smelling, tastes by tasting, hard and soft objects by touching-of all which sensible objects it is the actual objects which we perceive perfectly."

Question 39

Augustine says that "without any delusive representation of images or phantasms, I am most certain that I am, and that I know and delight in this."

Question 40

Augustine's answer to the skeptics who say, "What if you are deceived?" is "Then knowledge is impossible."

Question 41

Augustine concludes that "as I know that I am, so I know this also, that my soul is immortal."

Question 42

How does Augustine differentiate between the idea that "we both are, and know that we are," and the idea that "we perceive the things outside of us"?

Question 43

Why is Augustine convinced that "without any delusive representation of images or phantasms, I am most certain that I am, and that I know and delight in this"?

Question 44

What is Augustine's reply to the arguments of the Academicians [skeptics], who say, "What if you are deceived?" Do you agree with Augustine's reply? Explain your answer.

Question 45

Explain Augustine's meaning when he says, "For, as I know that I am, so I know this also, that I know."

Question 46

Descartes's application of methodological doubt requires which of the following?

A) It is necessary for him to demonstrate that every one of his beliefs is false.
B) He needs only to prove that mathematics is based on falsehoods.
C) He will approach the criticism of the principles on which all his former beliefs rested.
D) He must prove that God does not exist.

Question 47

According to Descartes, "All that I have, up to this moment, accepted as possessed of the highest truth and certainty, I received either from or through …"

A) abstract concepts.
B) the senses.
C) persons of authority.
D) God.

Question 48

Descartes tells us that he can doubt that "I am in this place, seated by the fire, clothed in a winter dressing gown, that I hold in my hands this piece of paper," because …

A) "I perceive so clearly that there exist no certain marks by which the state of waking can ever be distinguished from sleep."
B) "If I do so, then I am not insane."
C) "I might have been hypnotized by some evil genius."
D) "The results of physical sciences such as biology, chemistry, and physics cannot be applied to sleeping states and dreams."

Question 49

Descartes asks the following: "how do I know that I am not also deceived each time I add together two and three"? Furthermore, "If, however, it were repugnant to the goodness of God to have created me subject to constant deception, it would seem likewise to be contrary to his goodness to allow me to be occasionally deceived; and yet it is clear that this is permitted." From this Descartes concludes that …

A) "God does not exist."
B) "religious authority is not trustworthy."
C) "the results of mathematics, such as 2 + 3 = 5 cannot be doubted."
D) "there is nothing of all that I formerly believed to be true of which it is impossible to doubt."

Question 50

Descartes realizes that "if I desire to discover anything certain," then …

A) "I must discover the ultimate truths of mathematics and logic."
B) "I ought to refrain from assenting to those same opinions than to what might be shown to be manifestly false."
C) "I need to discover how my mind and body interact, such that my mind receives truths from sense perceptions."
D) "I must master the art of spiritual learning, understanding, insight, and enlightenment."

Question 51

Descartes says that "I will suppose, then, not that God, who is supremely good and the fountain of truth, but that some _____________, who is at once exceedingly potent and deceitful, has employed all his artifice to deceive me."

A) atheistic wizard
B) scientific mastermind
C) malignant demon
D) petty, but powerful, official

Question 52

The main goal of Descartes in his Meditations is to …

A) provide a firm foundation for knowledge.
B) make science and religion compatible.
C) prove that we have a body and a mind.
D) show that meditation is the correct path to truth.

Question 53

Descartes says, "all things being maturely and carefully considered, that this proposition-I am, I exist-is necessarily true each time it is expressed by me, or conceived in my mind. This alone is inseparable from me. I am-I exist: this is certain; but how often?" Descartes answers his own question by stating which of the following:

A) As often as I dream.
B) As often as my body has sensations.
C) As often as I believe a statement.
D) As often as I think.

Question 54

Descartes uses his analysis of the example of a piece of wax to conclude that …

A) "The wax has a set of permanent physical characteristics."
B) "The wax has an existence apart from my mind."
C) "I cannot apprehend it without possessing a human mind."
D) "The wax does not exist."

Question 55

Descartes concludes at the end of Meditation II that …

A) "The system of methodological doubt has allowed me to prove the results of mathematics and science."
B) "God creates both physical objects and minds."
C) "It is impossible to defeat the principle of skepticism."
D) "I readily discover that there is nothing more easily or clearly apprehended than my own mind."

Question 56

Descartes application of methodological doubt requires that he will approach the criticism of the principles on which all his former beliefs rested.

Question 57

According to Descartes, "All that I have, up to this moment, accepted as possessed of the highest truth and certainty, I received either from or through the senses."

Question 58

Descartes tells us that he can doubt that "I am in this place, seated by the fire, clothed in a winter dressing gown, that I hold in my hands this piece of paper," because "I perceive so clearly that there exist no certain marks by which the state of waking can ever be distinguished from sleep."

Question 59

Descartes asks the following: "How do I know that I am not also deceived each time I add together two and three"? Furthermore, "If, however, it were repugnant to the goodness of God to have created me subject to constant deception, it would seem likewise to be contrary to his goodness to allow me to be occasionally deceived; and yet it is clear that this is permitted." From this Descartes concludes that "there is nothing of all that I formerly believed to be true of which it is impossible to doubt."

Question 60

Descartes realizes that "if I desire to discover anything certain," then "I must discover the ultimate truths of mathematics and logic."

Question 61

Descartes says that "I will suppose, then, not that God, who is supremely good and the fountain of truth, but that some malignant demon who is at once exceedingly potent and deceitful, has employed all his artifice to deceive me."

Question 62

The main goal of Descartes in his Meditations is to make science and religion compatible.

Question 63

Descartes says, "all things being maturely and carefully considered, that this proposition-I am, I exist-is necessarily true each time it is expressed by me, or conceived in my mind. This alone is inseparable from me. I am-I exist: this is certain; but how often?" Descartes answers his own question by saying "As often as I think."

Question 64

Descartes uses his analysis of the example of a piece of wax to conclude, "I cannot apprehend it without possessing a human mind."

Question 65

Descartes concludes at the end of Meditation II that "It is impossible to defeat the principle of skepticism."

Question 66

What does Descartes hope to achieve from his methodological doubting?

Question 67

What does Descartes use as his criterion for doubting?

Question 68

Why does Descartes place so much emphasis on the certainty of beliefs?

Question 69

How does Descartes conclude that "there exist no certain marks by which the state of waking can ever be distinguished from sleep"?

Question 70

Why does Descartes believe in a God that is "supremely good and the fountain of truth" while a "malignant demon . . . has employed all his artifice to deceive [him]"? Why doesn't Descartes see these two entities as one and the same?

Question 71

Descartes says, "So that it must be maintained, all things being maturely and carefully considered, that this proposition-I am, I exist-is necessarily true each time it is expressed by me, or conceived in my mind. This alone is inseparable from me. I am-I exist." Explain why Descartes holds this view.

Question 72

Explain Descartes's analysis of the "piece of wax" example, and what he concludes from that analysis.

Question 73

Locke tells us that his main purpose is to ...

A) inquire into the physical consideration of the mind and to examine in what its essence consists.
B) inquire into the original, certainty, and extent of human knowledge, together with the grounds and degrees of belief, opinion, and assent.
C) inquire into the motions of our spirits and alterations of our bodies as we come to have sensations by our organs.
D) inquire into the ideas of our understandings, and whether those ideas do, in their formation, any or all of them, depend on matter.

Question 74

Locke uses the term "idea" to stand for ...

A) "whatsoever constitutes the areas of pure mathematics and logic."
B) "the fact that physical objects exists objectively and independently of our perceptions."
C) "the universal form of an abstract concept."
D) "whatsoever is the object of the understanding when a man thinks."

Question 75

"Innate principles or ideas" means ...

A) formal thoughts and universal truth which are implanted in our minds by God.
B) those memories which are formed by direct apprehension of physical objects through our sense organs.
C) primary notions stamped upon the mind of man, which the soul receives in its very first being, and brings into the world with it.
D) anything that is subject to doubt and investigation by scientific methods.

Question 76

For Locke, "innate principles or ideas" ...

A) do not exist.
B) are discoverable through self-reflection.
C) allow our minds to interact with physical objects.
D) are the basis for all universal truths.

Question 77

Locke argues that if the use of reason is necessary to discover innate principles, then ...

A) this places innate principles on a solid foundation.
B) innate principles are the underlying basis for our capacity to reason.
C) it is in effect to say, that men know and know them not at the same time.
D) our ability to reason and innate principles are really the same thing.

Question 78

For Locke, the mind at birth is ...

A) like an empty cabinet.
B) replete with innate ideas.
C) an immaterial substance.
D) capable of grasping Platonic forms.

Question 79

According to Locke, the mind learns by degrees and grows familiar with some ideas lodged in the memory, and the names attached to them. Afterwards, the mind abstracts them, and learns the use of general names. This process starts because ...

A) our innate ideas act as building blocks for all subsequent knowledge.
B) nature and nurture work in harmony throughout our lives.
C) the senses at first let in particular ideas, and furnish the yet empty cabinet.
D) God gives us the use of reason and provides us with innate principles.

Question 80

Locke argues that young children ...

A) have innate ideas of mathematics.
B) acquire knowledge solely by recollection.
C) have souls that are immaterial and eternal.
D) do not immediately understand abstract and general ideas.