DWC 101 Midterm Written Exam

Shalashaska of The West Resides in 2024

Speech of Aristophanes

The myth of two halves. Love is finding your missing half to become whole again.

Speech of Diotima.

The ladder of love. Love one person, than many, than the soul, than laws and ideas, than true beauty. Love is the path towards the divine, immortality through beauty, spiritual ascent from physical to intellectual love.

Nicomachean Book 1

What is the highest good for humans? Every action aims at some good; the highest good is happiness - living well and doing well. Happiness is activity of the soul in accordance with virtue.

Nicomachean Book 2

How we acquire virtue. Virtue is through habit, not by nature. We become virtuous by doing virtuous actions repeatedly. ie. Practice makes perfect.

Nicomachean Book 3.

Deliberation and choice. We deliberate about things within our power that leads to our ends. Good action comes from deliberate choice guided by reason.

Nicomachean Book 6.

The intellectual virtues. Explains different types of knowledge: Artl/skill, science, prudence, wisdom, and understanding. The difference between practical wisdom (acting well) and theoretical wisdom (knowing truth); reason’s role in moral life.

Nicomachean Book 10.

The highest happiness and contemplation. The happiest life is one of philosophical contemplation. The activity of our highest part, the intellect. Virtuous moral action is good, but contemplation is best because it’s closest to the divine.

Allegory of the Cave

Ignorance vs. Knowledge. Education as enlightenment.