Living Philosophy- Lewis Vaughn- CHAPTER 2- THE PRE-SOCRATICS AND THE SOPHISTS
True/False Quiz with answers (10 questions)
Multiple Choice with Answers
... [Show More] (15 Questions)
Chapter Summary:
2.1 Thales and Anaximander
Milesian philosopher Thales’s view that the world is constituted by or originated from water is defended on the grounds that water appears to be elemental.
Anaximander, another Milesian philosopher, is said to be a pupil of Thales. His view of the origin of things derives from the principle of opposites, and is traceable back to the imperishable apeiron. This formless substance is the source of all things.
2.2 Heraclitus
One of two major influences on Plato’s thought, Heraclitus holds that opposites ultimately find harmony in the principle of the logos, which orders the world. The seeming flux of things is just that, a seeming. Underneath, rational and divine logos steers all things.
2.3 Parmenides
The other most significant influence on Plato’s thought, Parmenides, set the stage for later theoretical divisions between reason and sensation. According to Parmenides, reason dictates that reality is one, not many. The many appears, but that is the extent of its reality.
Moreover, the One necessarily is. Parmenides justifies this claim by reasoning that non-being is impossible—one cannot think or speak about non-being, since the thinking and talking is about something. A further consequence is that we cannot speak about change. Hence, “what is, is, and cannot not be.”
2.4 Democritus
Democritus is one of two atomists. Along with Leucippus, Democritus firmly rejects Parmenides’s monism. He holds a pluralistic view of the universe: there are infinitely many atoms and the void. The void is not nothing, but it is also not equivalent to Parmenides’s One. Democritus’s view of the atom does bear similarities to Parmenides’s view of reality, namely that it is indestructible and solid, even if it varies in size and shape from other atoms.
2.5 Protagoras and the Sophists
Protagoras is one of the most famous of the itinerant teachers, the Sophists, whose views and methods Plato—and most of Athens, for that matter—largely reviled. Arguably, Protagoras’s single most important view was moral relativism.
True or False (10 Questions)
1. Anaximander identified apeiron as the origin of all things.
a. True
b. False
2. Parmenides distinguishes between appearance and reality.
a. True
b. False
3. Zeno's paradoxes are intended to demonstrate the multiplicity of things in the universe.
a. True
b. False
4. Atoms, according to Democritus, are indivisible bits of stuff that move randomly in an infinite void.
a. True
b. False
5. Plato points out a conceptual inconsistency with relativism; namely, since all sincerely held beliefs are equally true, then two opposing beliefs are true at the same time.
a. True
b. False
6. The relativist is committed to the view that there are objective truths.
a. True
b. False
7. Subjective relativism is the view that truth depends on what the individual accepts as true, not on the way things are.
a. True
b. False
8. Cultural relativism implies that other cultures are beyond moral criticism.
a. True
b. False
9. The Sophists hold that absolute knowledge is attainable.
a. True
b. False
10. Of all the early Greek notions about the nature of the universe, Democritus's theory comes closest to that of modern scientists.
a. True
b. False
Multiple Choice
1. Thales's great contribution to philosophy and science is (are) his __________, whereby he sought natural and simple explanations for natural phenomena.
a. thought
b. conjecture
c. scientific instruments
d. method
2. Logos is __________ central idea.
a. Parmenides's
b. Anaximander's
c. Thales's
d. Heraclitus's
3. Heraclitus' central idea is a(n) __________ principle.
a. empirical
b. rational
c. finite
d. scientific
4. Heraclitus claims that although all things __________; they are really __________.
a. compete; symbiotic
b. move; fluctuating
c. are unchanging; eternal
d. flow; unchanging
5. Parmenides is famous for, among other things, his systematic __________.
a. employment of deductive argument
b. employment of inductive argument
c. employment of fallacious argument
d. interpretation of astronomical signs
6. Parmenides argues that reality consists of the __________.
a. Infinite
b. Many
c. One
d. Finite
7. Democritus advances the theory known as ancient __________.
a. monism
b. mechanics
c. relativism
d. atomism
8. Democritus's theory includes the view that reality consists of __________ and the void.
a. atoms
b. indestructible composites
c. composites
d. electrons
9. Sophists were __________.
a. public servants
b. poets
c. itinerant professors
d. religious prophets
10. The Sophists prefer __________ explanations of phenomena.
a. purely deductive
b. divine
c. naturalistic
d. relativistic
11. According to the Sophists, __________ are determined neither by the gods nor nature.
a. moral codes and scientific explanations
b. scientific explanations and legal codes
c. moral beliefs and legal codes
d. religious beliefs and moral beliefs
12. Plato __________ Protagoras's position.
a. utterly rejects
b. generally endorses
c. completely embraces
d. thoroughly respects
13. The Sophists were skilled at, among other things, __________.
a. horticulture
b. dentistry
c. animal husbandry
d. rhetoric
14. __________ asserts, “Moderation is the greatest virtue.”
a. Anaximander
b. Heraclitus
c. Parmenides
d. Democritus
15. One commonality between Socrates and the Sophists was the latter's focus on __________ inquiries.
a. astronomical
b. humanistic
c. meteorological
d. metaphysical [Show Less]