Deck 4: Believing

Question 1

Kierkegaard thinks his age is the age of __________.

A) Publicity
B) Revolution
C) Repression
D) Rebellion

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Restate in your own words Epicurus' account of the happy life. Do you find it persuasive? Why or why not? Does it accord with your own experiences of happiness and sorrow? Explain.

Answer 2

The happy life is one in which a person attains True pleasure. This is something like contentment for Epicurus. One lives a life of simple moderation, enjoying luxuries when they come and avoiding pain and discontentment as much as possible. The man who can be happy with a little is happier than the luxurious man because the luxurious man experiences great pain when he loses his luxuries, where the self-sufficient simple man has little to lose and therefore little pain to be experienced by loss. Indeed, he experiences far less pain in loss, for he is hardened against it. And when luxuries come his way, he enjoys them far more than the luxurious man. He does not seek too much physical pleasure, but is simply free from anxiety and tumult.
This seems very much like what many philosophers have described as the happy life. Indeed many have experienced the pain and difficulties which come with luxury. To live simply, to be free of anxiety seems logically like happiness. Can one be happy in any circumstance if one is anxious, or fearful, or in pain? This seems like the antithesis of happiness.
One may think that suffering and pain are part of attaining happiness however. The greatest happiness comes only after struggle and suffering. Perhaps the effort and the pain it takes to manage luxury are merely indicative of the immense happiness it brings once one has mastered its control. Perhaps it is much more difficult than the simple life, but it is also far more rewarding and therefore far more happy.

Question 3

Do you think Plato's or Epicurus' view of the body is more accurate? Why?

Answer 3

One may find Plato's account more plausible. There clearly seems to be a separation of the mind and the body, and the body truly does often distract from what pleases the mind. It is a truism that pleasures of the body often cause grief and pain while pleasures of the mind or soul bring long lasting enjoyment. At least in this sense, Socrates and Plato got something right by focusing on the soul
Another may find Epicurus' account more plausible, for much philosophical debate and scientific advancement seems to point to the mental being a manifestation of physical things. In other words, all there is is a body and when the body ceases, so does the mind. There is no experience after death.

Question 4

How does Epicurus reach the conclusion that death is nothing to fear? Why does he say that a belief in the immortality of the soul goes hand in hand with a fear of death? Are his arguments plausible? Why or why not?

Question 5

Epicurus claims that only those of ripe age should study philosophy, for only in age can one appreciate death as the release from the prison of the body.

Question 6

What, according to Socrates, is the nature of the body? What is the nature of the soul? What does the body value? What does the soul value? Do you agree with Socrates' conclusions? Why or why not? If you agree with the conclusions, do you also believe that your life is a preparation for death? How could you prepare for death on a day-to-day basis? If you disagree with the conclusions, how would you characterize the relationship between life and death?

Question 7

Epicurus thinks that death is of no concern to the philosopher.

Question 8

Kierkegaard argues that "the public" is merely an abstraction.

Question 9

Plato argues that death is the separation of the soul from the body.

Question 10

Plato defines death as __________.

A) Shedding the mortal coil
B) Separation of the soul from the body
C) The grim reaper
D) Such sweet sorrow

Question 11

According to Epicurus, what is the motive for acting morally?

A) Fear of divine punishment
B) Freedom from guilt
C) Pleasure
D) Honor

Question 12

Plato says the philosopher's main concern should be __________.

A) Physical pleasures, such as sex
B) Receiving honor from others
C) The soul
D) Fine clothes and other possessions

Question 13

According to Epicurus, what is the end for which we do everything?

A) Freedom from pain and fear
B) Pleasing the gods
C) Experiencing great physical pleasure
D) Attaining a simple life

Question 14

Why should the philosopher look forward to death, according to Plato?

A) Only after death will the soul attain wisdom
B) The gods promise a life in heaven after death
C) All pain will cease then
D) They can expect to be reincarnated in a better body

Question 15

If you asked five people at random "What is a life of pleasure?" what do you think that they would say? What would Epicurus say? Whose answer do you think is more accurate? Why?

Question 16

Suppose you completely agree with what Socrates says about the nature of the body and the soul. What attitude would you have toward people whose job requires them to be concerned with the pursuits of the body? What about people who are able to spend most of their time pursuing the pleasures of the soul? Do you think your answers strengthen or weaken Socrates' position? Why?

Question 17

The selection you read takes place after Socrates has argued that suicide is dishonorable. Do you think these two views (that suicide is dishonorable and that philosophy is a preparation for death) are consistent? What might be a potential contradiction between them? Do you agree that suicide is dishonorable or immoral? Why or why not?

Question 18

Which of the following is not a description Kierkegaard uses to characterize "the public"?

A) A phantom
B) Concrete
C) The Leveling-Master
D) Created by the Press

Question 19

What, according to Epicurus, is death?

A) The transition into an afterlife
B) The separation of soul and body
C) The end of existence and sensation
D) The beginning of immortality

Question 20

Plato claims that genuine wisdom comes only after death.

Question 21

Which of the following best captures the point of Nietzsche's squib?

A) We are accountable for who we are
B) Reality is full of purpose
C) Everything exists in isolation from everything else
D) No one is accountable for existing at all

Question 22

What is not a way Nietzsche describes moralizing?

A) Naive
B) Bigoted
C) Approving
D) Ridiculous

Question 23

Nietzsche says that value judgments about life are __________.

A) Merely symptoms
B) Ether true or false
C) Neither true nor false
D) Both true and false

Question 24

What concept does Kierkegaard say is necessary for "leveling" to take place?

A) Reason
B) Capitalism
C) The public
D) Freedom

Question 25

Why does Nietzsche think that existence has no purpose and that life has no meaning apart from what each individual gives it? How might this view change the way a person lives? What good and bad results might spring from viewing life this way?

Question 26

In what ways does Sartre think that people are different from tables or knives? In your opinion, does he capture what is distinctive about human beings? Why or why not?

Question 27

Nietzsche argues that to redeem the world, we must deny God.

Question 28

According to Nietzsche, what judgment have those considered the wisest usually come to about life?

A) Socrates understood it best
B) It is worthless
C) It is ultimate joy
D) It is a gift from God

Question 29

According to Sartre, if God created us, then __________.

A) We have freedom of the will
B) We are not like a table or knife
C) He did so like a table-maker or knife-maker
D) There is no human nature

Question 30

Nietzsche begins this selection by saying "in every age the wisest have passed the identical judgment on life: it is worthless." What does Nietzsche mean by echoing this statement? Is it just a frustrated, cynical reaction, or does it imply some serious ideas about life and existence? What are those ideas and what basis might they provide for living well?

Question 31

What does Nietzsche mean by an "immoralist"? How does an immoralist contrast with a moralist? Why does Nietzsche count himself among the immoralists?

Question 32

When we choose, says Sartre, we choose __________.

A) For everyone
B) For ourselves only
C) According to our essence
D) An illusion

Question 33

Do you think that Nietzsche's criticisms of Western culture are still valid or partially well over a century after they were written? Explain.

Question 34

According to Sartre, our actions are __________.

A) Determined by our circumstances
B) Always excusable by human nature
C) Only what we will for ourselves
D) Also what we will for all mankind

Question 35

Sartre says that existentialists all share the view that essence precedes existence.

Question 36

Some have criticized Kierkegaard's essay because in the two years following its publication, Europe exploded in massive civil unrest. Others think that his essay nonetheless touches on some crucial problems with Western culture and hence is still relevant today. To what extent do you think that his essay is still relevant today? Explain.

Question 37

Sartre says that if God does not exist, then __________.

A) Each person must define himself/herself
B) We should be excited
C) All is lost
D) We should give up moralizing

Question 38

Would Kierkegaard say that people in our present age live "passionately" and that "revolutionary" activity-activity that brings about profound change in society-is still possible today? Or would he say that we also live in an age of "advertisement and publicity" where what is important is buying the latest consumer goods available to us? Have passion and individuality been replaced by reality TV and Access Hollywood? Does that matter?

Question 39

When Kierkegaard thinks of the public as a person, he thinks of __________.

A) An ambitious newspaper reporter
B) A busy, energetic soldier
C) A religiously minded philosopher
D) A lazy, bored Roman emperor

Question 40

Are Kierkegaard's categories of "the public" and "leveling" still relevant? How do you think he would apply each of them to contemporary "global" culture?

Question 41

According to Frankl, ultimate meaning in life is __________.

A) Dependent upon luck
B) Unconditional
C) Unconditional and beyond understanding
D) Impossible

Question 42

What is not something Matthieu gives as a reason against euthanasia?

A) Pain can serve to remind us of the suffering of others
B) Every moment of life is precious.
C) Pain is the only way to attain enlightenment
D) Suffering is the result of our negative past actions

Question 43

What does it mean to say that existence has no intrinsic meaning? If existence has no intrinsic meaning, should we be optimistic at our unbridled freedom to create our own values and meaning? Or should we be sickened or frightened by the fact that there is nothing out there in the world, or within ourselves, beyond what we are conscious of from moment to moment?

Question 44

What is not something Matthieu says about self-mastery?

A) Self-mastery is the only thing of true value
B) Self-mastery is essential
C) Self-mastery is not losing sight of the nature of enlightenment
D) Self-mastery is like a "science of the mind"

Question 45

In paragraph 3, Frankl talks about pleasure and pain. Do you agree with how he characterizes these experiences? Why or why not? Relate your answer to what you have said about Epicurus' (Reading 116) view of pleasure and pain.

Question 46

What does Frankl say everyone is really searching for?

A) Someone to love
B) Pleasure
C) Meaning
D) Wealth

Question 47

Do you think that there is still evidence of a "mental-hygiene philosophy" today? Explain your answer with specific reference to what Frankl says about it. Why, according to Frankl, is such a philosophy a problem? Do you agree with him? Why or why not?

Question 48

How does Frankl characterize suffering? Do you agree with his view? Why or why not? Someone might argue that his view is dangerous because it could be misused by people to rationalize oppression ("Yes, those oppressed peoples suffer greatly, but that gives their lives greater meaning."). Can Frankl's view avoid that danger? Why or why not?

Question 49

In the first paragraph of the section "The Super-Meaning," Frankl contrasts two possible burdens of human existence and argues that only one is a genuine burden. Which is it? Do you think that there is any real difference between saying "life is meaningless" and saying "life is meaningful in a way I can't possibly understand" if either way we can't grasp the meaningfulness of life? If so, what is the difference? If not, how would Frankl's philosophy be impacted?

Question 50

Frankl believes that finding meaning can ease suffering.

Question 51

Is Frankl being consistent when he says that we cannot understand the ultimate meaning of our suffering but goes on to recount stories of people finding meaning in such suffering? (Consider, for example, his stories of the elderly doctor who mourns his wife's death, Frankl's own concentration camp story, and the rabbi who grieves because he cannot become a father again.) If you think that he is being consistent, explain the apparent discrepancy. If you think he is being inconsistent, show how you think his argument might be altered to avoid contradictions.

Question 52

Frankl argues that one can find no meaning without suffering

Question 53

By "super-meaning", Frankl means __________.

A) The demand to endure the meaningless of life
B) An unconditional meaning which exceed the intellectual capacities of humans
C) The meaning that we find in dying
D) That ultimately there is no meaning to survival

Question 54

Buddhism teaches that we should shun the thought of death.

Question 55

In the last passage, Sartre discusses cowardice. Think of a particular cowardly action that you have encountered and how in the past you have explained it. Does your explanation accord with Sartre's? What do you now think is the strongest explanation of your behavior and why?

Question 56

What is not a way Revel and Ricard describe the Western conception of death?

A) Death is taboo
B) Death is an insurmountable obstacle to the ideal of Western civilization
C) Death destroys what Westerners care about the most, themselves
D) In the Western conception, death is celebrated

Question 57

Revel and Ricard agree that the common contemporary reaction to death is __________.

A) Horror
B) Calm resignation
C) Embarrassment
D) Relief

Question 58

How does Matthieu characterize death? Why, according to Matthieu, does the Buddhist not fear death? What approach does the Buddhist take instead? How would you evaluate his views relative to others you have seen in this chapter, and why?

Question 59

According to Sartre, from what and where does our responsibility arise? Who are we responsible for and why? Do you agree with his analysis? Explain.

Question 60

How, according to Sartre, does a belief in God create the possibility for excuses that deny our ultimate responsibility? Do you find that contention liberating or oppressive? Why? Can you think of other ideas besides God that people might use to avoid responsibility for their lives and choices?

Question 61

Do you agree that life should involve a constant contemplation of death? Why or why not? What would that look like? What do you imagine Simone de Beauvoir (Reading 118) would say to such a suggestion? Whose view do you sympathize more with, and why?

Question 62

What does the poem say the woman ate when she was young?

A) Warm oatmeal
B) Wild rice
C) Willow branches
D) Winter squash

Question 63

Matthieu says that the way that Westerners typically approach death and the way that people typically die in the West are indicative of a spiritual void. What do you think that he means by that? Give concrete examples of how his view might be made more specific. Do you agree with his conclusion? Why or why not?

Question 64

The passage ends with __________.

A) A gate shutting
B) A jury deciding
C) A lawyer arguing
D) An explosion

Question 65

Jean-François says that approaches to death can be divided into two kinds: survival views and disappearance views. How, from what each of them says, could Buddhism fit or not fit into each of these? Which view do you think would lead to a more constructive and healthy view of death, and why?

Question 66

What does the man do to gain admittance to the Law?

A) He pays a fine
B) He serves his time
C) He bribes the jailer
D) He prays

Question 67

In what city is the woman?

A) Philadelphia
B) New York
C) Los Angeles
D) Chicago

Question 68

Is the man on trial? If so, for what? Why does the man not leave and go about his life?

Question 69

The man thinks the law should be accessible to everyone.

Question 70

Why is the Law only for this man? And why does the doorkeeper close the door as soon as the man asks the final question, about why no one else has come seeking the Law?

Question 71

To what extent and why is euthanasia unacceptable for the Buddhist, according to Matthieu? Do you agree with the argument he presents? Why or why not?

Question 72

"Before the Law" is an allegory.

Question 73

What does the poem say the woman hears?

A) Voices
B) Wind
C) Rain
D) Screams

Question 74

What do you think that this parable could be saying about the meaning of existence? What could it be saying about how you should live?

Question 75

The women notes that the birds above her could be a halo.

Question 76

Why is suicide unacceptable for the Buddhist? Do you agree with the view Matthieu presents? Why or why not?

Question 77

What do you think that the Law might represent in this parable? What do you think that the doorkeeper stands for? What is it that we all "strive to reach"? What is the illumination from the gate that appears at the end of the man's life? (You might have more than one possible answer for these questions).

Question 78

What compels the woman of the poem toward death? What holds her back? How can her life shed light on the relationships among poverty, racism, and suicide and on the socio-cultural aspects of death?

Question 79

What is the woman doing in the poem?

A) Looking out the window
B) Calling her children
C) Fixing dinner
D) Hanging on, contemplating suicide

Question 80

Who stands before the law?

A) A lawyer
B) A judge
C) A doorkeeper
D) An architect