Mid-term Exam Review

PHL/CNE 371 Review Guide for Mid-term Exam Prof. Stephens

The Cynics
1. Describe who the Cynics were. Name the first Cynic and describe his way of life.
2. Describe how the Cynics regarded themselves, their mission, and their beliefs about life.

Epicurus
1. Describe what we know of Epicurus' biography.
2. Describe Epicurus' view of what philosophy is, what it does, why it is important, and for whom.
3. Describe Epicurus' cosmology, i.e., his account of the universe, its constituents, its features, and how it operates.
4. Describe Epicurus' view of friendship in detail.
5. Describe Epicurus' view of the virtues.
6. Diagram Epicurus' taxonomy of desires, explaining each division of classes. Give examples of each class of desire.
7. Describe Epicurus' account of the goal of life and how to achieve it in detail.
8. Describe Epicurus' theology. What role do the gods play, according to Epicurus?
9. Describe Epicurus' account of justice and its origin.

Lucretius
1. What is the De Rerum Natura? To whom is it addressed and what is its purpose?
2. What does L. say is his reason for writing DRN in verse?
3. Describe L's cosmology in detail. Explain how he reasons from observed phenomena to his physicalist theories about the universe, its features, constituents, and how it operates. How do macroscopic objects come to be and perish? How do invisible forces operate?
4. Describe L's account of the swerve. What is it intended to account for?
5. Describe in detail L's account of the human body, spirit (soul), and mind. How does each operate? How does the mind form conceptions? How does he explain vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch? How does he explain the body's ability to move? Its need for nourishment and sleep?
6. Describe L's account of optical illusions.
7. Describe L's account of how mirrors work.
8. Describe L's theology. How do we know the gods exist, according to L.? Describe their nature.
9. Describe L's views on superstition and hell.
10. Describe L's account of dreams.
11. Describe L's account of the formation and age of the world, its state (condition/trend), and the existence of other worlds.
12. Accurately present L's arguments on death and mortality.
13. Explain L's view of the role and necessity of philosophy. What kind of life, and what kind of desires, does philosophy recommend?
14. Describe in detail L's account of sexual functions, sexual activity, and love. Describe his arguments concerning love and sex.
15. Briefly describe L's account of meteorological phenomena.

Seneca
1. To whom are his letters addressed? What is S's purpose in writing them? Describe S's view of friendship.
2. Describe in detail S's account of the honorable. What is the goal of life, according to Seneca?
3. Describe S's account of the proper action (kathēkon), i.e. our social duties/obligations.
4. Briefly describe S's account of a citizen's "duty" to the State.
5. Describe S's account of cosmopolitanism.
6. Accurately state the Stoic Paradoxes. Explain what each one means.
7. Diagram S's taxonomy of existence, explaining the divisions among classes of things.
8. Describe in detail S's view of death, mortality, and suicide.
9. Describe in detail S's account life, the quality of life, and lifespan.
10. Describe S's account of fortune, fear, and fortitude.
11. Describe S's views on wealth (and frugality).
12. Describe in detail S's conception of the Stoic wise person.
13. Describe in detail S's account of the good, desire, and happiness. What are the necessary and sufficient conditions for happiness, according to Seneca? Explain his arguments for this position.
14. Describe S's view of bodily health.
15. Describe S's developmental account of oikeiōsis (self-love) in humans and other animals.
16. Describe in detail S's account of nature, reason, foolishness, virtue, and vice.

Epictetus
1. Describe E’s account of god (Zeus, the gods) (Book 1, Ch. 9, 14, and elsewhere). What role does god play for him? What are FIVE different positions on the gods that he identifies?
2. Present E’s arguments for (divine) Providence (Book 1, Ch. 6, Ch. 16, et alia). Where do nonhuman animals fit in his worldview?
3. Describe the story of the wrestler who died after refusing surgery that required amputation of his genitals (Book 1, Ch. 2). What idea in Stoicism does E use the story to explain?
4. Describe the story of Agrippinus, Florus, and Nero and the story of senator Helvidius Priscus (Book 1, Ch. 2). What is the purple? What is the idea in Stoicism this story illustrates?
5. Which philosopher is E’s favorite and why?
6. Explain E’s account of love and affection for family members. Contrast it with his account of sexual love. (Book 1, Ch. 11, Handbook 3, 7, 11, 16).
7. How does E heroize Herakles? (Book 1, Ch. 6, 32–37)
8. Describe E’s account of the faculty of reason, the hēgemonikon (ruling faculty), and the prohairesis.
9. Explain E’s account of prosōpon (proper character) and his theory of roles.
10. Describe E’s view of the significance of the beard.
11. Describe E’s account of the human body and the soul.
12. Describe in detail E’s conception of freedom, how to attain it, dignity, self-respect, slavery, and coercion.
13. Explain what E means by “the proper use of impressions.”
14. Describe E’s account of nature and happiness.