Exam 2 Review

Stoicism: A Very Short Introduction

Chap. 1-2

1. What do the Greek letters (Phi Beta Kappa) mean? p.2

2. What does Socrates say about those who do wrong, and how should we deal with their actions? p.5

3. The first complete work of Stoic philosophy wasn't written until when? p.10

4. Why do some scholars question Marcus Aurelius' Stoic credentials? p.18

5. When did Marcus Aurelius' book take its place alongside Epictetus and Seneca? p.21

6. Seneca was popular in what three countries? p.24

Spinoza on Happiness Report:

1. What are the 3 elements of Spinoza's idea of 'the good life'? - development of reason, love for 'God, or Nature,' and freedom

2. How can the 'or' in 'God, or Nature' be thought of? – as an equal sign

Stoicism Chap. 3-4

1. Why did Plato think "a benevolent and providential divinity" created the world? p.27

2. What idea is Plato most strongly associated with? p.28

3. For the Stoics, what has no causal efficacy whatsoever? p.29

4. Which pre-Socratic philosopher identified four basic elements or kinds of stuff in the universe, and which post-Socratic philosopher did he influence? p.39

5. How did the Stoics’ view of the divine’s role in the universe differ from Aristotelean & Platonic traditions? p.41

6. For Stoics, what are the only real good(s) and evil(s)? p.58

On Risk and Happiness Report:

1. Globally, how many people die in car accidents die every year on average? – 3200

2. Who said that the unexamined life is not worth living? – Socrates

3. How many years did Nelson Mandela spend in prison? – 27

Stoicism Chap. 5-7

1. How do Stoics and Epicureans differ on the value and pursuit of justice? p.65

2. The Stoics held that as humans we are programmed to follow and we must follow if we are to achieve successful versions of ourselves, what? p.66

3. What is the most common Stoic expression of the goal of human life? p.68

4. What is arete? p.69

5. The Stoic accepted which four basic virtues? p.70

6. Why can animals successfully rely on the accuracy of their perceptions, for Epictetus and the Stoics? p.88

7. What two factors do Stoics say cause all our decisions? p.100

8. How is logic treated by the Stoics? p.101

9.  Why has it been natural to focus on Stoicism primarily as a source for moral advice and self-improvement? p.105

10. What did Lawrence Becker say was the problem with ancient Stoicism's relation to nature, and the challenge for modern Stoicism? p.108

11. What was the problem Becker saw with ancient Stoicism? p.108

Why are some places happier than others? Report:

1. What is one of the main reasons that people in the United States are unhappy? –

2. Where does the author go first to start off his happiness trek? – The Netherlands

3. What are some examples of the high level of tolerance in The Netherlands? – Legalized marijuana and prostitution

4. What is the cocktail party question for the people of Switzerland? –

Cicero's "On the Nature of the Gods" Quiz:

1. How did the Pythagoreans affirm their arguments? (V)

2. Velleius says that unlike the Stoics, he won't speak of what? (VIII)

3.Velleius inquires of both the others, "why these powers suddenly appeared as constructors of the world, and why for innumerable ages they were _____?" (IX)

4. "What is to be thought of a philosophy that holds the ignorant old crone’s belief that everything happens by _____?" (XX)

5. How does the blessedness of an epicurean god and the blessedness of an epicurean life differ? (XX)

6. Why did Simonides require so many days to reflect on the nature of god? (XXII)

7. Whose views did Cicero say he found nearer the truth? Whose did he say Velleius found "the truer"? (XL)

Art of Happiness

Intro-39

1. How does Epicurean happiness resemble Buddhism? (VIII)

2. What stereotypes contribute to a flawed understanding of Epicurus, according to the editor? (XIII)

3. What was the genius compromise of ancient Greek philosophy that synthesized the views of Heraclitus and Parmenides? p.5

4. The Epicurean savior today would be who? p.9

5. Under Epicurus’s atomist theory, the collisions and combinations of atoms necessary to produce objects were the result of what? p.17

6. What is 'ataraxia'? p.26

7. Epicureanism was designed as a positive way to escape from the unpleasant social and political environment of the Hellenistic period, and is thus described as a _____. p.27

8. What are the 4 'tests for truth' that make up the 'hard empirical core of Epicureanism'? p.28-31 (A-D)

Happiness and the Experience Machine Report:

1. What is Aristotelian view on how to obtain happiness? –

2. In the Matrix, once the “plugged in” realized their predicament, how did they perceive the world they were in? –

3. In Nozick’s argument, would the person “plugged in” have control over the images and experiences they encounter? –

4. How does the hedonistic theory coincide with the notion of being “plugged in” to an experiment machine? –

AH p.39-76

1. Mechanistic materialists think they can dispense with what, suffering nothing but what? p.39

2. What one function do the gods perform for the Epicureans? p.39

3. For Epicureans, the gods were "paragons of the good life" because they exemplified what Epicurean ideals? p.39-40

4. What was Voltaire's 'malicious remark' about God? p.40

5. To what glaring defect did Epicureans direct their criticism of popular Greek religion? p.45

6. What other aspect of popular religion than that mentioned above troubles many observers? p.51

7. According to Lucretius, what is "the mark of the free mind?" p.52

8. How can we quell irrational "darkling terror," according to Lucretius? p.56

AH p.77-134

1. Epicurus's prose style is worse even than whose? p.78

2. Diogenes Laertius says Epicurus's critics are what? p.82

3. What kinds of pains are worse, for Epicurus, and why? p.90

4. For Epicurus, what forms the most reliable basis for our beliefs? p.103

5. Soul bears the closest resemblance to what? p.103

6. According to Epicureans, _____ and _____ are imagistic. p.116

7. Epicurus was not an enemy of all religion, only what? p.129

8. For Epicurus, hell is what? p.132

Nietzsche Report:

1. What is the ubermensch NOT, and what is a more accurate and accepted translation of it? – A superhero, Overman

2. What was Nietzsche’s goal with providing us with the ubermensch? – To offer meaning in the light of the death of god, and to propose a type of human that dismisses otherworldly notions and focuses on the life directly in front of them.

3. For Nietzsche, what is the practical purpose of philosophy, and what ability does it give us? 

4. What were the two concepts Nietzsche put forth to represent the affirmation of life?  

5. What is the real meaning of Ecce Homo and why was it so important to Nietzsche?

6. What did Nietzsche believe hindered self-growth and why?

Eastern Happiness Report:

1. What are the Three Universal Truths? – Everything is impermanent and changing; the impermanence of everything leads to suffering; there is no eternal unchanging “self” or soul

2. What are the Four Noble Truths? - Suffering exists; suffering has a cause; suffering can end; the way to end suffering is by following the Noble Eightfold Path

3. Name the two Buddhist schools of thought that developed after the Buddha’s death? – Mahayana Tradition; Theravada Tradition

4. What Buddhist school of thought does the Dalai Lama belong to? Mahayana Tradition

1. The unperturbed life has no use for what? 136
2. Epicurus's various physical theories are offered to Pythocles to remind him to "keep clear" of what? 149
3. To say that the time to study philosophy has not yet come is like saying what? 155
4.  "Pleasure is the goal of living" means pleasure that consists in what? 160

5. If a person fights clear evidence of their senses they will never be able to share in what? Pg 140
6. What was one of the chief social aims of Epiureanism? 162
7. "The irreligious man is not the person who destroys the gods of the masses but" who? p.156
8. What mass phobia troubled the Hellenistic period? (163)