What Does Socrates Mean To Be Wicked

10. Explain Socrates’ view that ‘to be wicked (or: unethical or immoral in some way) is to hurt yourself more than you hurt anyone else’. 4 points

Socrates’s view that one’s wicked actions cause more self-harm than the harm caused to others, stemmed from the fact that Socrates placed more value on soul than on the physical body. By being wicked, or making unethical or immoral decisions, one not only harms others immediately but one will harm their soul by turning oneself towards wickedness and making it harder to seek out virtue. He believed that since being wicked is the worst thing that may happen to a person and that each person choose on their own accord to be wicked or virtuous.

11. Why does Socrates think it is important to continue

to question people on philosophical issues? 4 points

Socrates thinks it is important to question people on philosophical issues, using his ‘Socratic Method,’ to reveal to them that they may not, in fact, know as much as they believe they do, and that the answers to many questions, even the seemingly simple, can have very complex answers, that one may need to think about in greater detail.

Socrates also considered true wisdom to be the knowledge and acceptance of the fact that one ultimately knows very little, and he found many he came across to be very unwise. By continuing to question people on philosophical issues, I believe Socrates not only sought to gain clarity certain philosophically problematic issues, but to spread what he believed to be true wisdom by revealing to the people of Athens the boundaries of their

minds.

12. Write a short paragraph describing differences between Rationalism and Empiricism. 4 points

During the 17th century, the two philosophers, Descartes and Locke, both proposed their opposing theories regarding the acquisition of knowledge.

René Descartes, as a Rationalist, believed that the only indubitable knowledge that can be acquired, is the knowledge acquired through pure reasoning and with no physical experience necessary, while John Locke, as an Empiricist believed knowledge could only be gained by experience via the senses and then contemplation on such experiences. The philosophers’ hit another discord regarding their stances on innate principals. The Rationalist, Descartes, argued that there must be priori truths (those which are not learned through experience or observation, but are principals we are born with), while the Empiricist rejects this possibility emphatically. Locke believed instead that we are born with no innate knowledge, as a “tabular rasa” or a ‘blank slate,’ upon which impressions are made by the experiences we encounter.

13. Write a paragraph explaining Descartes’ ‘Method of Doubt’. 4 points

In order to determine which principals are definitive, René Descartes set about his attempts to determine which of his beliefs, if any, were true. He did so by using his Method of Doubt, wherein he subjected his beliefs to the basis that, if they could be disproved, then the belief was flawed and subject to doubt. He concluded that the basis for most of his beliefs were doubtable, including his sensory experiences - based on his Dreaming Argument and

his Evil Genius Argument.

14. Descartes is an Empiricist. True or false? 2 points

False.

15. The Rationalists believe some knowledge or concepts are innate. True or false? 2 points

True.

16. Aristotle believes that virtue is something that is learned, not something one is either born with or without. True or false? 2 points

True.

17. If you are a Virtue ethicist, you should practice virtuous acts because it will bring you money and power. True or False? 2 points

False. (Although, it is suggested that these may come as the fruits of labor from a life of virtuous acts.)

18. How does Aristotle suggest one work out what the right thing to do is in any given situation? 2 points

Aristotle suggested that one could simply ask, “What would a virtuous person do in this situation?” Then act accordingly. Having no specific procedure for every scenario one might encounter, Aristotle acknowledged that one must learn from other virtuous people and imitate their behavior.

19. ‘Eudaimonia’, for Aristotle, is a life full of only pleasure and doing as one pleases. True or false? 2 points

False.

20. For Aristotle, we must aim our behavior at the ‘mean’ between excess and deficiency. What does that involve? 4 points

As being virtuous is requires constant practice, to tread the at the ‘mean’ between excess and deficiency, means to actively and constantly make virtuous choices that also tread on the middle ground, as we become good through doing good and bad through practicing bad. We should avoid the Vices, and try to keep our behavior between the extremes of lack and excess of each virtue. At the ‘mean’ and in pursuit of ‘Eudaimonia,’ Aristotle believed the best way we can we lead a good life is by using reason to better our own character.