Western Philosophy Midterm

Plato, Euthyphro

Socrates meets Euthyphro outside the courthouse, where Euthyphro is prosecuting his own father for murder. They discuss the meaning of piety, or what makes an action holy. Socrates asks whether something is loved by the gods because it is pious, or whether it is pious because the gods love it. This question challenges the idea that morality is defined simply by what the gods approve of. Euthyphro repeatedly struggles to provide a satisfactory definition, demonstrating Socrates’ method of questioning assumptions.

Main idea to remember: What makes something morally right? Is it right because the gods command it, or do the gods command it because it is right?

Plato, “The Allegory of the Cave” (from Republic)

Plato describes prisoners who have spent their entire lives chained inside a cave, watching shadows on a wall and believing those shadows are reality. One prisoner escapes and discovers the world outside the cave, gradually learning to understand reality beyond appearances. When he returns to explain what he has learned, the other prisoners resist his claims. The allegory illustrates the difference between the sensible realm, which we experience through our senses, and the intelligible realm, which we understand through reason. It also shows that gaining knowledge can be difficult and that people may resist having their beliefs challenged.

Main idea to remember: Philosophy helps us move beyond appearances toward a deeper understanding of reality.

Aristophanes, Clouds

In this comedy, Strepsiades enrolls his son, Pheidippides, in Socrates’ Thinkery because he wants to escape his debts. The Thinkery is portrayed as a place where people study unusual ideas and use clever arguments. Pheidippides learns to use reasoning to defend himself, eventually arguing that a son can justifiably beat his father. Strepsiades becomes angry and blames Socrates and his students for undermining traditional morality. He ultimately decides to burn down the Thinkery. Aristophanes satirizes intellectuals, philosophers, and sophists by portraying their ideas as potentially dangerous to traditional Athenian society.

Main idea to remember: Clever reasoning can be used to challenge tradition and even justify immoral behavior.

Plato, Apology

Socrates defends himself at his trial against charges of corrupting the youth and impiety. Rather than abandoning philosophy to save himself, he explains that questioning people is his duty. He describes how the Oracle at Delphi led him to investigate what wisdom really means. Socrates concludes that his wisdom consists partly in recognizing that he does not know what he does not know. He argues that an unexamined life is not worth living and refuses to stop philosophizing, even when it puts his life at risk.

Main idea to remember: Socrates values the pursuit of truth and virtue more than popularity, wealth, or even his own safety.

Plato, Symposium

At a dinner party, several speakers deliver speeches praising Love (Eros). Phaedrus argues that love inspires virtue, while Pausanias distinguishes between common love and heavenly love. Eryximachus explains love through harmony and balance, and Aristophanes tells a myth in which humans were split in half and now seek their other halves. Agathon praises Love's beauty and goodness. Socrates challenges these ideas by recounting what Diotima taught him: Love desires beauty and goodness because it does not fully possess them. Diotima describes the ladder of love, in which a person progresses from attraction to individual bodies toward beautiful souls, laws, knowledge, and finally the Beautiful itself. Alcibiades later praises Socrates through a personal account of his character.

Main idea to remember: Love is a desire for beauty and goodness, and it can lead a person toward wisdom and a deeper understanding of beauty.

Hannah Arendt, “The Answer of Socrates” from The Life of the Mind

Arendt examines the relationship between thinking and morality through Socrates. Thinking involves an internal dialogue in which a person questions and examines their own beliefs and actions. Arendt calls this the “two-in-one” because the thinker is both the person asking questions and the person answering them. This inner dialogue matters morally because people must live with themselves after acting. Thinking can help people avoid wrongdoing by making them consider whether they could accept themselves after committing an unjust act. Arendt is especially concerned with the danger of thoughtlessness.

Main idea to remember: Thinking critically about your actions can help you recognize wrongdoing and take moral responsibility.

Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”

King responds to white clergymen who criticized his demonstrations in Birmingham as untimely and disruptive. He argues that injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere, so people cannot ignore injustice simply because it occurs outside their own communities. He distinguishes negative peace, which is the absence of tension, from positive peace, which is the presence of justice. King explains that nonviolent direct action creates constructive tension that forces communities to confront injustice and negotiate change. He also distinguishes just laws from unjust laws and argues that people have a moral responsibility to resist unjust laws.

Main idea to remember: Nonviolent direct action and constructive tension are necessary when waiting and maintaining superficial peace allow injustice to continue.

Phaedrus

Love is one of the greatest blessings because it inspires people to act virtuously and become better. A person in love may be more willing to act courageously because they want to be worthy of the person they love.

Pausanias

There are two kinds of Love: common love, focused primarily on the body, and heavenly love, focused on the mind and soul. Love is not automatically virtuous; its moral value depends on how it is pursued.

Eryximachus

Love exists throughout nature and involves harmony and balance. He extends the concept of Love beyond human relationships to medicine, music, and the natural world.

Aristophanes

Humans were originally whole beings who were split in half by Zeus. Love is the desire to reunite with one's other half and recover a sense of wholeness.

Agathon

Love is young, beautiful, delicate, and virtuous. He emphasizes Love's positive qualities and its association with goodness and beauty.

Socrates

Love desires what it lacks, especially beauty and goodness. Through Diotima, he explains that Love is neither beautiful nor ugly, neither wise nor completely ignorant. Love motivates the pursuit of wisdom and the Beautiful itself.

Alcibiades

He praises Socrates rather than giving a conventional speech about Love. He describes Socrates as unusually wise, self-controlled, and difficult to understand, and recounts his own attraction to him.

Aristodemus

He attends the dinner party with Socrates and serves as the original witness and narrator of the gathering's speeches. He is not presented as delivering one of the major speeches about Love.

Apollodorus

He recounts the story of the dinner party to others, explaining that he learned about it from Aristodemus. He helps establish the story's chain of narration.

Glaucon

He asks Apollodorus to recount the gathering. He is part of the framing conversation rather than one of the principal speakers at the dinner party.

Diotima

A wise woman who teaches Socrates about Love. She explains that Love is a daimon between mortal and divine, describes Love's relationship to desire and immortality, and presents the ladder of love.

An unnamed friend 

The unnamed companion who encounters Apollodorus and asks him about the gathering. This conversation introduces the account of the speeches.

Explain the concepts of genus and species, and provide an example from one of our readings.

Genus is a broad general category while a species is a more specific subcategory. For example, in Plato's Symposium, Love is the genus, while commonly love and heavenly love are the species. In Platos Euthyphro the example would be Justice (genus) and piety (species).

What is a sophist? How does Plato present the difference between a sophist and a philosopher? Why do you think Aristophanes groups philosophers and sophists together?

A Sophist is a person who obtains knowledge and sells it. On the other hand, a philosopher does not have knowledge but loves it. A philosopher does not teach for money but asks others questions, in which they learn from it. I think that Aristophanes grouped Sophists and Philosophers together because, while one charged those and the other didn't, they both, in their own ways, helped people open themselves up to new ideas. Sophists argue every side, and they don't necessarily care for the truth. Destabilize traditional forces of society.

In Aristophanes’ Clouds, how are the people in Socrates’ Thinkery described? What are they like? What kinds of things are they doing?

The people in Socrates thinkery are described as noble and good men, but they are also portrayed as villains and boasters who are also pale, shoeless men. They spent their time studying unusual things, such as measuring how far a flea can jump. 

In Aristophanes’ Clouds, why does Strepsiades burn down the Thinkery? What do you think Aristophanes is trying to say by having him do this? 

Strepsiades becomes angry with Pheidippides because his son argues that it is justified for a son to beat his father. Strepsiades decides to burn down the thinkery because he blames Socrates and his students for teaching these arguments and causing trouble. I think that Aristophanes is trying to show the dangers of using clever arguments to justify immoral behavior and challenge traditional values.

What charges are brought against Socrates at his trial? Briefly, how does Socrates defend himself against these charges?

Socrates was charged with corrupting the youth and impiety, not believing in the g-ds. He defends himself by arguing that Meletus has never genuinely cared about improving the youth. He also points out that Meletus contradicts himself by accusing Socrates of believing in “other daimonia that are novel” while also claiming that Socrates does not believe in g-ds at all.

Explain Plato’s division between a sensible and intelligible realm. What are the distinguishing features of each?

The sensible realm is the world we experience through our senses. In the Allegory of the Cave, this is represented through the shadows that the prisoners see on the walls. The intelligible realm is understood through reason rather than the senses. It is represented by the prisoner's journey leaving the cave, where he begins to understand a deeper reality beyond the shadows. The sensible realm consists of things that change, while the intelligible realm involves the unchanging forms. (mention universals) 

In the Symposium, what is Pausanias’ criticism of Phaedrus’ account of the relationship between love and virtue?

Phaedrus believes that love is virtuous and inspires us to become better people. Pausanias challenges this idea by arguing that not all love is good and that there are two different kinds of love, heavenly love and common love. Heavenly love is directed at the mind and the soul while common love is directed at the body. Therefore, love is not always virtuous because its moral value depends on the kind of love.

Reconstruct Aristophanes’ myth in the Symposium. What is this myth supposed to say about the nature of love? How does Socrates (through the words of Diotima) challenge this view in his own speech? On this last point see, in particular, 205E.

Aristophanes believed that humans were split into two halves destined to search for each other. Zeus split them in half to weaken them because he feared their power, but knew the g-ds couldn't kill them. Aristophanes myth suggests that love comes from the desire to reunite with one's other half and regain a sense of wholeness. Socrates challenges this idea through Diotima by arguing that love is not simply about finding one’s other half, but about desiring the good and wanting to possess it permanently. (Mention the three sexes and clinging to each other till starvation)

According to Socrates, why is love not beautiful?

According to Socrates, Love is not beautiful nor is it ugly because love is the desire for beauty, and one desires something they do not obtain, therefore, love cannot be beautiful. Love, while not beautiful, isn't ugly either because like wisdom and ignorance, doesn't have to be either, it can be in between.

Diotima tells Socrates that love is a daimon. What does this mean? How might Socrates himself be described (figuratively) as daimonic? And what is this supposed to tell us about the nature of philosophy? (i.e., the love of wisdom)

Love is a daimon because it is a great spirit that falls between mortal and g-dly. Socrates could be described as daimonic because of his inner voice tying him to the g-dly world. This shows to us that the core of philosophy is the love of wisdom because philosophers are described not as people who have knowledge but people who love it. 

A daimon is a spirit in between the divine and the human word. Socrates is a daimon in the sense that he does not claim to be wise but he also does seek wisdom, and he asks questions. Philosophy has the same structure of  the love of knowledge. He's between ignorance and wisdom. 

According to Diotima, how should one proceed in the art of love? (We discussed this in class as her “ladder of love”)

Diotima recommends climbing the ladder of love. She suggests that one should begin by finding one beautiful body, then recognize the beauty in all bodies. Following this, one should learn to appreciate beautiful souls, laws and customs, and different kinds of knowledge. Finally, one reaches an understanding of the Beautiful itself. Through this process, a person learns to move far beyond physical attraction and develop a deeper understanding of beauty.

What does Arendt mean by the “two-in-one”? What is morally significant about this phenomenon?

When Arendt discusses the “two-in-one” theory, she is referring to the inner dialogue that happens when a person thinks. A person is able to have a conversation with themself, questioning their own thoughts and actions. This is morally significant because it raises the question of whether or not we are responsible for our actions when we fail to think about the consequences. By having internal dialog, we are able to question our decisions and consider whether we are able to live with ourselves afterward. Arendt suggests that this process of thinking can help prevent wrongdoing because we must answer to ourselves for our actions. Looking into the mirror and liking what you see. Prevent thinklessness.

What parallel does Martin Luther King Jr. draw between himself (and the non-violent protest movement in general) and Socrates?

Martin Luther King Jr. believed that it was necessary to stand up against injustice, even if it meant creating tension and breaking unjust laws. Similarly, Socrates felt as if tension was necessary for people to rise above half-truths and question their beliefs. Both believed that challenging the status quo could help people recognize injustice and move towards a better understanding of what is just. (MLK is causing people to take action as well as think)

How does Martin Luther King Jr. challenge the clergy members’ understanding of place and time in “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”?

Martin Luther King Jr. challenges the clergy members' understanding of place and time in Birmingham jail by arguing that injustice somewhere is injustice everywhere. He argues that people cannot ignore injustice just because it is happening outside their community. Regarding time, MLK Jr. argues that African Americans should not have to wait any longer for equality because waiting only delays justice. He believes that direct action is necessary to pressure people to confront justice and bring about change. 

Explain the two distinct conceptions of peace discussed in “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” How does Martin Luther King Jr. use these conceptions to explain the situation in Alabama and to justify his political actions?

In “The Letter From Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr. distinguished the difference between negative and positive peace. Negative peace is the absence of tension or conflict while positive peace is the presence of justice and equality. MLK Jr. explains that although some people want to maintain peace by avoiding protests and demonstrations, this does not solve the injustice African Americans face in Alabama. He argues that non violent action is necessary to create tension that forces communities to confront racial discrimination and negotiate change.