What is a fact?
Something that is generally accepted as being accurate.
What is an opinion?
A personal belief which cannot be proven, but you accept as accurate.
What is speculation?
A projection or a progression of fact. A prediction of the future based on fact; the outcome may not be accurate.
What is a bias?
A predisposition to be more accepting of one viewpoint than another. According to Mr. Crawford, there’s nothing wrong with having a bias so long as you know you have it, and why it is there.
What is philosophy?
A pursuit of wisdom. However, that begs the question, what is wisdom?
Why is memory an imperfect storage method?
Everyone has biases and priorities of their own, so everyone remembers specific things about an event.
Why can humans not relate to non-physical things?
As soon as we try, we make these things physical by thinking about the non-physical thing, making it physical as impulses in the brain.
What is the first step towards wisdom?
Recognizing that you know nothing.
What is Solipsism?
The view that everything else is puppetry/fake, and that you are the only thing that is real.
What was the original meaning of apology?
Defending the stance that you take.
What is the commonly accepted meaning behind “The unexamined life is not worth living”?
That without critical self-examination, you’re just along for the ride, and you aren’t really living your life.
What are natural philosophers? Provide 3 examples that we learned of in class.
Natural philosophers believe that society and families should reflect the order presented to us in nature. They also believe that you cannot separate nature and society. Three examples we learned of in class include Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
What is Sophism?
The belief that you should only be concerned about your place is society, and don’t question nature.
What is Stoicism?
The belief that you should be concerned with both nature and society.
BONUS: What is Druidism?
The belief that nature is the most important. Basically Sophism, but with nature.
What is the cycle of philosophy?
Wondering about something ↓ Gathering info ↓ Doubting that info
Rinse and repeat.
What is the value of philosophy?
Not in the things you find, but in the questions that you ask. Consider the train journey, and stopping periodically. At each station, you can stop entirely, switch trains, or keep going. Eventually the tracks become intertwined, and you intersect with other tracks you’ve been on before.
What are the three parts of decision making?
The Head - Rational
The Heart - Emotional
The Stomach - Desires/Appetites
According to Plato, what is real?
Only non-physical things, because they are perfect/unchanging. We cannot even conceive them because they become physical the instant we try.
What is the ideal form of a horse?
The horsiest horse. All of the attribute of a horse, never changing because it doesn’t have to.
What is form?
The permanent and unchanging form of everything.
What is substance?
The physical characteristics of a representation of form, which can change.
What are the four realms according to Plato?
The Ideal Realm, permanent and unchanging.
↓
The Idea Realm, residual memories and remnants of the Ideal Realm. 1 step from reality.
↓
The Physical Realm, A representation of ideas which represent perfection. 2 steps from reality.
↓
The Realm of Lies, containing arts, music, and drama. A representation of a representation of a representation. Only useful if used as a tool, such as music before battle. 3 steps away.
What justifies existence?
Decisions. The purpose of decisions is to go on the path of wisdom.
