Deck 2: The Pre-Socratics

Question 1

Zeno tried to refute Parmenides's claim that being does not change.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Pythagoras is famous for the remark attributed to him, "You cannot step in the same river twice."

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Which of the following statements is true about Anaxagoras?

A) He introduced into metaphysics an important distinction, that between matter and mind.
B) He thought that basic particles were indivisible.
C) He held that there were four different kinds of particles.
D) He believed that particles were always in motion.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that deals with questions about being and reality.

Question 5

According to Empedocles, which of the following is the cause of change?

A) nous
B) condensation and rarefaction
C) logos
D) love and strife

Question 6

Which of the following statements is true about Empedocles?

A) He simply assumed some very basic principles and attempted to deduce from these what he thought must be the true nature of being.
B) He thought that true reality is permanent and unchangeable, yet he also thought it absurd to dismiss the change one experiences as mere illusion.
C) He wished to call attention to what he thought was the essential feature of reality; namely, that it is ceaselessly changing.
D) He taught that each thing contains its opposite, just as, for example, people are simultaneously young and old and coming into and going out of existence.

Question 7

What is reality according to a follower of Parmenides?

A) one and changing
B) one and unchanging
C) many and changing
D) many and unchanging

Question 8

Epistemology is the branch that explores the sources, nature, limits, and criteria of _____.

A) knowledge
B) being
C) good and bad
D) politics

Question 9

The view that future states and events are completely determined by preceding states and events is called determinism.

Question 10

Thales, Anaximenes, and Anaximander are collectively known as the _____.

A) Atomists
B) Pythagoreans
C) Milesians
D) Particle Theorists

Question 11

Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and fundamental properties of _____.

A) knowledge
B) god
C) beauty
D) being

Question 12

Who among the following were regarded as the Atomists?

A) Leucippus and Democritus
B) Anaximander and Anaximenes
C) Pythagoras and Thales
D) Heraclitus and Parmenides

Question 13

What was the essence of reality for Heraclitus?

A) change
B) permanence
C) water
D) apeiron

Question 14

Which is a theme common to all the pre-Socratics?

A) Nothing changes.
B) Everything is made of particles.
C) The experienced world is a manifestation of a more fundamental underlying reality.
D) True reality is unknowable.

Question 15

Anaximander refused to identify the basic stuff with any observable substance.

Question 16

According to Aristotle, Pythagoras claimed that all things were made out of numbers.

Question 17

According to Theano, what did Pythagoras claim?

A) Numbers are unreal.
B) Everything is in accordance with number.
C) Everything is made out of numbers.
D) Reality is totally material.