ch5
1. How do Stoics and Epicureans differ on the value and pursuit of justice? 65
2. What is arete? 69
3. (Please post yours in comments.)
3. (Please post yours in comments.)
DQ
- Is justice its own reward, or does its value consist in "the extrinsic benefits it produces"? What are those benefits?
- If we're "programmed" to follow particular inclinations, can we be fully responsible for our happiness? Or goodness? Or anything? Should we understand programming by analogy to computers? 66
- Do you think an orderly and rule-governed universe implies divine purpose? 68
- Was Cicero right (in light of contemporary events) about it being "characteristic of human beings to seek and probe for the truth"? 71
- Are we truly rational animals?
- Are health and wealth really "indifferents" (neither good nor bad)? 79
- Is Mr. Spock a Stoic? 84
- Can you defend Epictetus's statement in Box 14 about not being "disturbed" etc.? 86
- (Please post yours...)
ch6
1. Why can animals successfully rely on the accuracy of their perceptions, for Epictetus and the Stoics?
2. What two factors do Stoics say cause all our decisions? 100
3. (Please post yours in comments.)
DQ
2. What two factors do Stoics say cause all our decisions? 100
3. (Please post yours in comments.)
DQ
- Is the Stoic view of nature as rational and providential for its creatures compatible with a biological/evolutionary understanding of nature? 88
- Is it possible to be a determinist but not a fatalist? Can an event be determined but not necessitated? Is free will compatible with determinism?
- Is formal logic more a source of insight or obfuscation, in philosophy?
- (Please post yours...)
ch7
1. Why has it been natural to focus on Stoicism primarily as a source for moral advice and self-improvement? 105
2. What did Lawrence Becker say was the problem with ancient Stoicism's relation to nature, and the challenge for modern Stoicism? 108
3. (Please post yours in comments.)
DQ
2. What did Lawrence Becker say was the problem with ancient Stoicism's relation to nature, and the challenge for modern Stoicism? 108
3. (Please post yours in comments.)
DQ
- What does it mean to you to "live according to nature"?
- "We live on a small planet circling a small star..." etc. Is Stoicism relevant to our situation? 108
- (Please post yours...)
Chp 5 QQ
ReplyDelete1. What is the most common Stoic expression of the goal of human life?(68)
2. The Stoic accepted which four basic virtues? (70)
Chp 6 QQ
1. How is logic treated by the Stoics? (101)
Chapter 5 Quiz Questions:
ReplyDelete1. 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
2. What is the most important message of Stoic ethics? P. 80
Chapter 5 QQ:
ReplyDelete1. Courage would not be considered excellence if what? (73)
2. Our striving to attain pseudo-goods is what the Stoics call what? (84)
Ch 6 QQ:
1. Who was the pioneer for Stoic logic? (92)
2. Our decisions are all caused by what? (100)
Ch 7 QQ:
1. What was the problem Becker saw with ancient Stoicism? (108)
Ch 5:
ReplyDelete1. The innate inclinations that we are programmed to follow include what? (66)
2. What is a criticism of the stoic tradition of telos? (83)
Ch 6:
1. What is axíōma? (92)
Ch 7:
1. What are the two stoic tendencies? (106)
Chap. 7 Quiz Question:
ReplyDelete1. What has made it natural for us to focus on Stoicism’s potential as a source of moral advice and self-improvement? (p.105)
Y'all are duplicating some of my questions, guess they must be good ones.
ReplyDeleteChapter 5:
ReplyDelete1: How did Stoics describe humans? Pg 66
2: What is the most common Stoic expression of the goal of human life? Pg 68
3: For the Stoics following Plato, what were the four basic virtues? Pg 70
4: For Epicetus, what is a recipe for misery? Pg 86
Chapter 6:
1: For Chrysippus, what is the definition of possible and necessary? Pg 99
Chapter 7:
1: What is modern Stoicism's aim? Pg 106
2: How much of Ancient Stoic logic does the modern Stoic need? Pg 107
To me, living according to nature means to live life as it comes to you and not to force certain things into or out of your life.
ReplyDeleteCan you offer an example, with respect to some particular life decision that might be different if we didn't "force" it? How might a Stoic decide, for instance, whether or not to go to school, to pursue a particular career, to marry, to vote...? In other words, what's a stoic criterion of natural living that we could use as a handy guide? Is this a rational principle? Surely it wouldn't just be an emotionally-based intuition, for a proper Stoic. But how do we tell the difference?
DeleteCertainly, great question. I think what I mean is more along the lines of resistance to certain happenings in your life. This is a difficult question because for me emotional intuition plays an enormous part in my decision making; but for a stoic logic and knowledge must be at the forefront. I think a criterion or guide a stoic might use is, to find a balance between emotion and knowledge (because I'm not sure we CAN know the difference) when making decisions. Find and take the most logical, harmonious, and least resisted path to the next place in your life. I think the hardest part for me is denying and abstaining from pleasure, and that is something that I am taking away from stoicism.
DeleteSorry, forgot the example. What I'm trying to get at is it comes down to common sense; but of course that's easier said than done. The idea looks great on paper but is quite difficult to integrate into your life. If going to school isn't financially reasonable, or at all appealing to you, then find something else more beneficial to invest your time into. Don't force going to school because you FEEL like it's something you need to do just because someone else tells you that you should, or because "everyone else is doing it". Same goes for choosing a career. If it's something you don't think you'll enjoy, if it's not financially responsible, or it's really outlandish, the stoic decision might be to look elsewhere for something that naturally "fits" your life and lifestyle better. Marriage might be a difficult one because love is instincually emotional, but a stoic might marry if and only if the person naturally fits into their life. If any part of the relationship feels off or gives you an uneasy feeling, a stoic would most likely stray away.
DeleteDQ:
ReplyDeleteIf one is a determinist, does that mean that our lives are completely out of our control? Does that mean if one goes to the gym and cannot lift five pounds today, it was already determined by nature? Or if someone gets in a wreck, it was already predetermined by nature? Does this mean that we, as humans, have no control over the obstacles that we must confront?
I tend to like to think that I have a free will, that nothing is predetermining whether i fail or succeed. Or if an event happens, it was not by some predetermined forces. The Stoic notion of if...then, almost makes it unnecessary to attempt to do something if it was already predetermined.
QQ:
ReplyDeleteChap. 5
1. "[T]he fully rational and wise person will be free of ___." p. 84
2. What are those "free from the passions" like? p.85 (last paragraph)
Chap. 6
1. What is the Greek term for an 'impression'? p.88
2. What ability "is the fundamental power that our rationality gives us for dealing with the outside world?" p.89
Chap. 7
1. What is the "intellectual attraction of ancient Stoicism?" p.109
If we're "programmed" to follow particular inclinations, can we be fully responsible for our happiness? Or goodness? Or anything? Should we understand programming by analogy to computers? 66
ReplyDeleteAlthough we may be inclined to do certain things I don't believe that we have duty to follow the inclination, especially if one has discipline and willpower to do so; consequently, the responsibility of our own happiness is in our own hands. Now that is to say we aren't prepared enough to put ourselves in a position where we can be happy whether that be due to social or personal constraints that we find ourselves in.
DQ: Are we truly rational animals?
ReplyDeleteI believe we try our best, or at least most of us do, to be as rational as possible. Do to our evolutionary and biological parts of us that make us human we are not able to do this which causes us to act irrational. So no, we are not truly rational animals.
I agree for the most part. I think that we are a very complicated mix between rational and emotional creatures. Having the capability and level of intricacy of rational thought that we do is something unique to us as a species, but it is highly tainted with emotion.
DeleteCh. 5 QQ: The Stoics and Platonists thought of what as a godlike trait? 69
ReplyDelete