multiple choice - ancient greek phil

Pericles

The first citizen of Athens

Protagoras of Abdera

• First to charge 100 minas (or 10,000
  drachmae—the equivalent of 4–5 years’
  wage

• First to distinguish genders of words and
  tenses of verbs

  
  

Relativism

The view that impressions
are subjectively true and cannot be denied by another
person

Xenophon

Mercenary (Anabasis)
• Apology, Symposium

Aristophanes

• comic playwright

• the clouds

early works

apology, crito, euthyphro

middle works

phaedo, republic, symposium

late works

parmenides, laws

• ,l;

,,m

Anaxagoras Universal mixture 

• Anaxagoras instead posits a thesis of universal mixture, according to which “everything is in everything”

• Everything is infinitely divisible, but however far the division is carried, each part still contains all things—and in that respect it is just like the whole. 

• Some texts seem to suggest that the basic ingredients or “seeds” are the opposites

• Anaxagoras also posits a principle of predominance, according to which the appearance of each thing depends on which ingredients are predominant in the mixture.

Anaxagoras - Nous 

• Concept of the mind (nous)

• Is pure and unmixed and which knows and controls all things 

• Cosmological role

• Biological role

teleology

the explanation of natural phenomena with reference to their end or purpose

Plato's symposium

• There are a total of 6 speeches plus a seventh by Alcibiades who comes in drunk and uninvited 

• Recurring motif is the obsession with socrates 

• They start talking about love because they believe it is neglected 

Agathon's speech 

• Love is qualities that enable him to give benefits for which we praise him 

• The most beautiful and the best 

Refutation of Agathon 

• Socrates criticizes Agathon for falsely applying to love as the grandest and most beautiful qualities 

• C1: Therefore, love is not beautiful but the desire for beauty 

• P4: All good things are beautiful 

• C2: Therefore, love is also lacking what is good  

The ladder of love 

• 5. Finally, we grasp the Form of Beauty itself.

• 4. We come to see beauty in activities, laws, customs, and kinds of knowledge (or sciences).

• 3. We realize that the soul is more valuable than the body, and so we come to love beautiful souls (even when housed in ugly bodies).

• 2. We realize that the beauty of all bodies is the same, and so we come to love all beautiful bodies.

• 1. We love one beautiful body.

• The form of beauty is eternal, unchanging and causal 

Alcibiades speech 

• He was implicated in the mutilation of the herms 

• He was charged with impiety, defected to Sparta and sentenced to death, charges were dropped 

• He compared Socrates to satyr, who charmed people with melodies and popular statues which were opened and filled with golden images of gods 

• He complains that Socrates makes him feel ashamed of political ambitions, pursuit of wealth and fame and desire to please a crowd 

• Alcibiades was upset Socrates refused to take him as a lover and he wants Socrates to teach him

According to Xenophon what happened to Meno 

• He was tortured and killed by the Persians in his early 20s 

What is virtue? 

• All Meno’s definitions of virtue fail and hes led to aporia 

• Meno know compares himself to a torpedo fish like Socrates compared himself to a gadfly in the apology 

Meno’s Paradox 

• We inquire into either what we know or what we do not know 

• We do not inquire into what we know and cannot inquire into what we do not know 

• Therefore, inquiry is impossible 

Elenchus

• Leads the interlocutor to contradiction, resulting in aporia and the recognition of ignorance 

• socrates method of cross-examination, relying of beliefs of his interlocutors and aiming at truth 

Methods of hypothesis 

• Whether virtue is teachable or not by means of a hypothesis 

• If virtue can be taught then there must be teachers of virtue - sophists, but this is seen as corruption of the youth 

• But if virtue could be taught then Athenians would pass it on to their sons, therefore it cannot be taught 

The road to Larissa 

• Reflecting upon claim that knowledge is necessary for virtue

• Socrates draws a distinction between true belief and knowledge and that knowledge is more valued 

• In Meno we find the origin of traditional analysis of knowledge as justified true belief 

Overview 

• Socrates execution is postponed until after the return of the ship of Theseus and Crito comes to Socrates to try to make him escape 

• Which is 14 youths and the ship is sent annually to honour the gods 

• Socrates had 14 individuals in attendance at his execution 

• Socrates likened to theseus 

• Crito doesn't use the soul 

Crito's arguments 

• Socrates death will deprive crito of a friend 

• It will damage his reputation since people think he values money more than friendship 

• The price of escape is affordable 

• Crito has friends that will welcome socrates 

• It would be unjust for Socrates to remain and would allow his enemies to triumph over him 

Socrates argument 

• We should pay attention to and value only the opinions of experts not the majority 

• He uses an analogy with physical training and bodily health

• Socrates believes he shouldn't escape since it would be a way of retaliating and retaliation is wrong 

The laws argument 

• Makes 2 arguments: 

• Relies on an analogy between the state and various authorities including ones parents 

  • Laws bring us to birth, nature us, educate us, etc 

  • And are therefore like our parents, teachers, etc

  • There's inequality in these relationships as it would be wrong for a person in a subordinate position to retaliate against a person in a superior position 

  • Therefore it would be wrong for Socrates to retaliate against the laws 

• Relies on an early version of social contract theory 

  •  Since citizens are free to leave the state and Socrates decided to stay he must follow the laws in the city 

  • He broke the laws and now has to deal with the punishment of the laws he broke 

  • Therefore, Socrates must obey the laws by awaiting his execution

Prohibition of suicide 

• According to camus 

• Even in cases of death we have no right to commit suicide 

• Socrates arguments for this 

  • We are prisoners and so we have no right to open to door to our prison and run away 

  • The gods are our masters and we are their possessions, if we commit suicide without their permission they will be angry and want to punish us 

• Cebes objects: if gods are our masters then we should want to remain in their service, we should not rejoice but grieve at the idea of death 

Socrates apology 

• Death is the separation of body and soul, and philosophers are concerned with the soul and pursuit of wisdom. The body hinders us in the pursuit of wisdom, in that we can only acquire it after death. Therefore, philosophers should rejoice in the face of death 

• The body hinders argument - we acquire knowledge through though alone and bodily need prevent us from having leisure to think 

• Cebes and simmias question Socrates argument for soundness since this argument only works if death is a separation of the soul and body and the soul services this separation  

Three kinds of character 

• The lover of money - who abstains from and endures bodily pleasures and pains due to a fear of poverty 

• The lover of power and honor - who abstains and ensures due to fear of dishonour or disgrace 

• The lover of knowledge  - who abstains and endures due to the fear that pleasure and pains are like nails which attach the soul to the body, preventing it from ascending to the realm of the forms 

Misology

• Misology - greatest evil. Belief that an argument is true then later believe its false, this can happen multiple times and the person will start to believe there are no true arguments

  • argumentation and reasoning 

  • How can one live without belief in the truth of arguments 

• Misanthropy - hate for humans, usually men, starts from lack of trust in people 

Theory of forms 

• Plato’s Theory of Forms holds that true reality consists of eternal, perfect Forms, while the physical world is an imperfect copy, and only knowledge of the Forms counts as genuine knowledge

Final argument 

• P1: opposites will not receive opposites 

• P2: the soul necessarily participles in the form of life 

• P3: death is the opposite of life 

• C1: therefore, the soul will not receive death 

• P4: that which will not receive death is indestructible 

• C2: therefore, the soul is indestructible 

• Why is the body alive?

• Not because it participates in the form of life, but rather because of some concrete thing which is always necessarily and essentially connected with life, the soul

• So given that death is the opposite of life, we can conclude that the soul will never receive or admit of death without ceasing to be itself 

• And that which will never receive or admit of death is indestructible so the soul must be indestructible. It will not perish, but withdraw at the onset of death 

The consequences of immortality 

• Consequences of the conclusion that the soul is immortal 

  • Socrates attitude towards his death is appropriate 

  • We must care for our souls not only in life, but for all time 

Plato's myth 

• An alternative account of the shape of the earth 

• A sphere in the middle of the heavens 

• We dwell in the hollows of this sphere thinking we are on the surface 

• People do live on the surface 

• Various rivers connect the region 

• We should risk the belief because the risk is a noble one 

• We should pursue virtue and the pleasures of learning rater than wealth and the pleasure of the body 

Socrates death 

• He drinks the hemlock cheerfully and he suggests that through death he is being cured of the illness of life 

The phaedo likens Socrates to what mythical hero? 

Theseus

Socratic definition 

• When Socrates first encounters Euthyphro he is prosecuting his father for murdering a servant 

• Socrates admits he is skeptical of these stories of the gods 

• Socrates endorsed the priority of definition 

• Problem: the gods disagree about what is just and unjust, the gods might agree on general principles but they will disagree of particular circumstances 

Divine command theory problems 

• Seems to make gods commands and the morality that stems from them arbitrary 

• We cannot have moral reasons for obeying god 

• We might do it out of self-interest, if not god will punish us  

Piety and knowledge 

• Socrates is implying that service to the gods aims at the health of the soul making ourselves as good and as wise as possible 

• Before arriving at aporia and admitting his own ignorance euthyphro runs away 

,,,

…

Socrates Labours

• He was known for questioning people in the marketplace (agora)

• First appearance in court at 70

• Earlier accusations came from Aristophanes and influence jury 

The oracle at Delphi 

• Socrates then explains the source of the accusations with a story of chaerephon and the oracle that sent him on a divine mission 

• The oracle at Delphi was the high priestess of the temple of Apollo and she was consulted for prophecy and guidance 

• There were multiple number of Delphic maxims inscribed on the temple and Socrats had the first marxism, attributed to Thales - know thyself 

• Chaerephon asked the oracle if anyone was wiser than Socrates and they reply was no one was wiser, this is when Socrates began to seek out someone wiser than himself 

• He went to those known for wisdom, looking for someone wiser but no one held up 

Socrates examination

• Examined politicians, poets and craftsmen in that order

• Politicians - most reputation for wisdom but dont have any wisdom  

• Poets - talent for creation but don't have knowledge for the creation 

• Craftsman - have knowledge about one thing but not wisdom of other things 

• What were they ignorant of?

Socrates defence 

• Throughout his defence, he emphasizes doing the right thing rather than worrying about death 

• He explains his cross examination of fellow Athenians as a result of divine mission 

• As evidence he cites his heroism in battle and his behaviour during the trial of the 10 generals and arrest of Leon 

• Generals - wanted to try them as a body, Socrates voted no 

• Leon - Socrates was to arrest him so Leon could be executed but Socrates went home instead

Results of Socrates service to the god 

• A reputation for wisdom 

• No leisure to engage in politics 

• Poverty 

• Copycats

Refutation of Meletus 

• Accusations were brought against Socrates by Meletus, Anytus and Lycon 

• Corrupting the youth and atheism or Asebeia

• He argues against the corruption of the youth charge that he does so unwillingly and requires instruction rather than punishment 

• Against the charge of atheism, he argues that a belief in spiritual things implies a belief in spirts

Death

• Socrates proposed a counter penalty of free meals at the Prytaneum 

• Meletus proposed death 

• Plato says a fine 

• The vote in 360 to 140 to put him to death 

• 280 vote him guilty 

• He argues death is a blessing, since it it either like annihilation or relocation which are both blessings

Socratic paradoxes 

• wisdom is the what we should value the most

• Knowledge is necessary for moral goodness and virtue

• If virtue is knowledge the role of elenchus becomes clearer 

• People must first recognize their ignorance to then search for knowledge 

• Socratic elenchus aims at refuting others and examining other

Socrates is likened to what mythical hero

Herakles

Which dialogue is plato present

Apology