Guided Studies 211-01: Final Examination Questions

Fall Semester, 2009

Professor Hyland

1. Develop a detailed account of how Socrates either does or does not adequately address the charges of impiety and corrupting the youth brought against him in the Apology by Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon.  In your view, is Socrates in the end guilty or innocent, and why?
2. In the Apology, Socrates develops his philosophic stance of aporia, his conviction that he lacks wisdom.  Yet in the Symposium, he claims to be an expert on eros.  With careful reference to the texts, write an essay either explaining how these two positions can be reconciled, or explaining the import of their incompatibility.
3. By the end of the course, you will have been introduced to Hegelian dialectic.  Discuss in detail the extent to which Socrates’ speech in the Symposium constitutes a dialectical Aufhebung of the previous speeches.  Discuss ways in which the movement of thought in the Symposium might differ from Hegelian dialectic.  Do these differences suggest the superiority or inferiority of Plato to Hegel?  How, or how not?
4. According to Alfred North Whitehead, “The history of philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato.”  If so, the first footnote would seem to be Aristotle.  In the light of your reading, set out some of the most important ways in which Aristotle has been influenced by Plato, and some of the most important ways in which he differs from his teacher.  Which standpoint is finally the more adequate, and why?
5. Write an essay on the connections between Aristotle’s claim in the Ethics that “contemplation is the highest activity,” and the position he takes on the nature of the soul (in the De Anima) and on theology (in the Metaphysics).
6. Write an essay on the eudaemonist element in Aristotle’s Ethics.  Include in your essay a discussion of Aristotle’s definition of happiness, what are some of the most important consequences of his view, and what are some of the major problems confronting his view.  Your essay should make clear to what extent you are or are not an Aristotelian on this issue, and why.
7. In his Ethics, Aristotle places great emphasis on the importance of habit (hexis) in our ethical lives.  Descartes, on the other hand, tries to eliminate the significance of habit through his method of Doubt.  Set out the positions of both philosophers on this issue, and show which one you most agree with, and why.
8. Give a Cartesian analysis of the worst mistake of your life.  Be sure to make clear in your analysis what Descartes’ explanation of error is, what are its strengths, and what its weaknesses.  If Descartes’ account is inadequate, fill it out with a more adequate account.
9. Descartes is often called “the father of modern philosophy.”  In the light of your reading of Kant and Hegel, what contributions of Descartes might be offered in justification of this title?  Show specific ways in which he might be said to set philosophy off in new, more modern directions.  Are these directions superior or inferior to those of the Ancients?  Why?
10. One of Kant’s most famous contributions to philosophy is the distinction between the “noumenal” and the “phenomenal” realms.  Set out as clearly and persuasively as you can the epistemological considerations that led him to this distinction.  Now set out as clearly and persuasively as you can the moral (ethical, religious) considerations that led him to this distinction.  Are these two compatible?  How, or why not?  Are you willing to accept this distinction?  Why or why not?
11. Kant regularly speaks of “dialectic” in pejorative terms, calling it, for example, an “inevitable illusion.”  Yet Hegel speaks of dialectic positively, regarding it, among other things, as the core of the “logic” of history.  Set out in detail what each means by dialectic.  Explain how their dispute over dialectic can be resolved, or why it cannot.
12. According to Hegel, the course of history is the movement toward freedom.  Show how, for Hegel, this is connected to the achievement of wisdom or “absolute knowledge.”  Relate this to the long-standing question of the relation of philosophy to politics, or theory to practice.
13. “There is a long-standing quarrel between the ancients and the moderns.”  Write an essay either supporting this statement by showing ways in which Descartes, Kant, and Hegel are joined against Plato and Aristotle, or disagreeing with it by showing how these pairings break down, or both.
14. Take any thesis of the instructor with which you disagree, present your objections and your alternative.