Review
for First Test in PHIL 120 Fall 2009
Last
modified: 9-28-09
The test is now scheduled for Friday, October 2, at class time.
Terms related to
Confucianism
Decree of Heaven, Destiny, Way of Heaven
gentleman, small man
family-society relation
benevolence or human-heartedness
Confucius’ version of the Golden Rule
doing for nothing
rectification of names
the rites (why important)
the Classics (why important)
how make moral progress (stages of development)
Mencius four seeds
Hsun-tzu’s incipient tendencies
Taoist criticism
recent criticism/modification of classical Confucianism
Terms related to Upanishadic Hinduism
brahman
origin of duality
meanings of “nothing ever remains the same”
atman
self as ego (ahamkara)
relation of atman to brahman
atman subject or object of consciousness
mortal/ immortal
reincarnation
the Two Paths (TT 34)
moksha
avidya (ignorance), of what?
problems caused by avidya
karma
freedom: what limits it, how attain it
conventional vs. genuine knowledge
Shankara
the practice his philosophy defends
attitude toward diversity
the sole reality
highest realization
maya, what it is and why it remains mysterious
what the senses do
how external things exist
the snake and the rope, what they represent
personal God, why important, why ultimately illusory
view of individual soul, true self, Brahman
favorite metaphor for ultimate experience
reunification, and step by step approach to it
criticisms of Upanishadic Hinduism
Socrates, Defense
Speech of
natural philosophers
Sophists
the “human” wisdom Socrates has
the “divine” wisdom he denies having (but wants to discover)
Socrates’ dialectic method
human/moral excellence/virtue
Socrates an atheist?
Socrates’ mission to the city
Who assigned it to him?
Relative value of soul and body
What S. is trying to change?
To corrupt or to improve?
What kind of activities change a person for the better or worse?
Which of them corresponds to Socrates’ special activity?
What kind of life is worth living?
What kind, while not being positively harmful, is not worth much?
Phaedo
dualism vs. materialism
the definition of death
what philosophy “really is”
the soul as vapor or breath theory
attunement theory of soul
preexistence of soul
separability of soul from body
the immortality of soul
similarities and differences: bodies, souls, gods, the Forms
Essays
IA. Argument for Preexistence of the Soul (either the argument concerning processes between opposites or the argument based on “learning” as recollection).
IB. The attunement theory of soul. What is it? Is it a materialist theory? How, briefly, does it differ from the soul as vapor theory? What arguments critical of this theory does Socrates present?
II. Discuss the Upanishadic Hindu Theory of Human Nature, either in the version represented by The Great Teachings or in the version represented by Shankara. Discuss (as appropriate) the following topics, within your allotted time: the ultimate reality, diversity, what ignorance of the ultimate reality is like and what problems does that ignorance cause, maya, the true self, the individual (apparently separate) self, what the senses do, karma, freedom within limitation, ultimate liberation, the two paths, the step by step process to reuinification. You may also include one major criticism of this theory.
III.
A. Discuss the main features of Confucius’ philosophy. Discuss as many of the following as possible within your allotted time: The problems faced by a society ignorant of Confucius’ teaching, the Decree of Heaven, Destiny, the Way of Heaven, what a “gentleman” is, the steps required to become a gentleman, the importance of jen (benevolence), the Golden Rule, what “doing for nothing” means, the rites and the Classics, and how “family values” are related to right conduct in the larger society. You may also briefly discuss Mencius’or Hsun-tzu’s additions or “clarifications” to original Confucianism.
B. Describe the most basic features of Confucianism and the discuss how Mencius and/or Hsun-tzu added to, or modified, it, giving some details.