Philosophy 1
1-1
Werner S. Pluhar
INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL: STUDY QUESTIONS

 
 
1.
What is the root meaning (etymology) of 'philosophy'?
2.
What is the relation between wisdom and knowledge?
3.
Mention one belief or question that is basic in the sense of being presupposed by other disciplines, and one that is basic in the sense of being beyond the reach of other disciplines.
4.
What is knowledge? (I.e., define the term.)
5.
If philosophy is the pursuit of justified true basic belief, how is such belief to be pursued? I.e., what does one have to do as regards the belief, its truth, and justification?
6.
How did people explain natural events (rain, thunder and lightning, etc.) before the Presocratics were around? Briefly, how good or bad were those explanations, and why?
7.
State the names of the four "elements" by which the Presocratics explained natural objects, and what these names really stood for.
8.
Explain the relation among the four "elements." Did the Presocratics agree on what was basic to all four?
9.
How did Socrates criticize the explanations of natural events offered by the Presocratics?
10.
Explain the title of the Apology.
11.
What was Athens like at the end of the 27-year long Peloponnesian war? Mention the major problems.
12.
To what type of government had Athens returned by the time of Socrates' trial?
13.
If Socrates could not accept the morality of the Athenians as justified, why didn't he instead accept the morality of the gods?
14.
Where, in the end, must we get a justified morality, according to Socrates?
15.
In what two ways did Apollo seem to be communicating with Socrates?
16.
Who were the sophists? How did Socrates differ from them? And why did they and the politicians hate Socrates for trying to teach them the first genuine bit of wisdom (consisting in realizing one's own ignorance)?
17.
On what trumped-up charges was Socrates convicted, and what was his defense against them?
18.
What is an argument? What distinguishes deductive from inductive arguments?
19.
State the criteria for a good deductive argument, and those for any good inductive argument (no matter what type).
20.
Are all deductive arguments with only true premises and a true conclusion valid?
21.
Can a valid deductive argument have a false conclusion? Can it have false premises? Can it have only true premises but a false conclusion?
22.
When is a deductive argument circular?
23.
Explain the relation between circularity and an argument's being deductive, being valid, and being a good argument.
24.
When, speaking generally, is an inductive argument biased?
25.
Name the four types of induction, and give an example for each type.
 

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