Deck 9: Aristotle: The Reality of the World

Question 1

Which of these accurately describes Confucius' life?

A) Born into a wealthy, prominent family
B) Lived in poverty without sustained employment
C) Educated at the finest institutions
D) Ran a humble library with Mengzi and Xunzi

Answer 1

Lived in poverty without sustained employment

Question 2

Where did Confucius find inspiration for his moral philosophy?

A) The rituals of ancient Chinese civilization
B) Careful observance of the tendencies of the ruling class
C) The mores of the educated elite in his state of Lu
D) What was revealed to him in a dream

Answer 2

The rituals of ancient Chinese civilization

Question 3

Which most accurately describes the central message of the Analects

A) We are made of the same substances that comprise the universe
B) Once should be wary of conscription into foreign armies
C) One must cultivate themselves according to ritual
D) Develop empathy and extend it to everyone equally

Answer 3

One must cultivate themselves according to ritual

Question 4

Which is not true of the term rén or "Goodness" as it was used by Confucius?

A) It incorporated knowledge and action
B) It emphasized the importance of being feared by others
C) It required consistent practice and self-reflection
D) It combined emotional and moral intelligence

Question 5

According to Confucius, how does one learn one's social responsibilities?

A) By reading ancient texts
B) Through one's relationships with others
C) By watching the ruler
D) By listening to one's own innate capacity for social harmony

Question 6

Why is filial piety central to Confucius' moral project?

A) Because one must learn to treat the ruler as one's father
B) Because someone must care for people when they are old
C) It is an expression of doing the right thing for the right reasons
D) Obedient children go on to lead successful lives

Question 7

Why are the rites and rituals so important in Confucius' philosophy?

A) They showed that humans were above the animals
B) They provided a script for meaningful and smooth social interaction
C) He wanted to discourage apathy in the youth
D) He wanted a uniform society

Question 8

Which describes a Good government according to Confucius?

A) One in which the people know better than to misbehave
B) One where everyone is considered equal
C) One that is aware of situations beyond its borders
D) One that seeks a common standard for political speech

Question 9

How does dé "Virtue" differ from rén "Goodness" in the Analects?

A) Dé is only useful in times of war
B) Rén includes care for one's surrounding fauna and flora
C) Dé tends to recognize the quality of a leader
D) Rén may be accomplished even by young children

Question 10

What novel insight did Mencius bring to Confucius' thought?

A) Human nature is essentially and innately good
B) One ought to love everyone as if they were a sibling
C) Human nature is not a factor in determining whether someone is "Good"
D) Different cultures may disagree on the appropriate rituals and rites

Question 11

Why did Mencius despise the philosophy of Yang Zhu?

A) It was needlessly complex, and it alienated most readers
B) It was not intended to be a practical, accomplishable philosophy
C) It championed selfishness at the expense of empathy
D) It did not cite Confucius as its primary source

Question 12

Why is the case of Emperor Shun and his brother, Xiang, so important for Mencius' moral philosophy?

A) He had a duty to his brother even though he was not a Good person
B) They ruled because they had fully cultivated their moral "sprouts"
C) When Xiang died, Shun gave up the throne out of respect
D) Shun neglected his duties to care for his ill brother

Question 13

Which was an issue of contention between the Mengzi and the Gaozi regarding human nature?

A) The Gaozi claimed that human nature was simply animal nature
B) The Mengzi lauded some people as morally perfected
C) The Mengzi thought that humans were irredeemably flawed
D) The Gaozi denied that there is inborn virtue in human nature

Question 14

Which most accurately describes the central moral metaphor of the Mengzi?

A) The Golden Rule
B) We must act as if someone is always watching
C) Our moral potentials are like seeds sprouting in a garden
D) We are like a pack of wolves, strong but dependent on our surroundings

Question 15

Why did King Xuan have the sacrificial ox replaced with a sheep?

A) His kingdom was poor, and he could not afford to lose the ox
B) He had a premonition of the sacrifice and feared a bad omen
C) He felt compassion for the ox as it was being led by his chambers
D) The sheep's bleating was keeping him awake at night

Question 16

What did the "child in a well" example in the Mengzi intend to prove?

A) Children have emotional power over adults
B) We must treat all children as our own
C) Things aren't always what they seem
D) We respond automatically and sympathetically to certain situations

Question 17

What was the primary difference between the Mengzi and the Xunzi?

A) One is based in reason, and the other is based in legend
B) One is a philosophy of the common person, and the other the wealthy
C) One beliefs in ancient customs, and the other advocates for novelty
D) One thinks that human nature is innately good, and the other does not

Question 18

Why is a moral education important in the Xunzi?

A) Everyone must receive the correct cultural history in order to discredit falsities
B) It is the only way human nature can be made good
C) Everyone must learn to read and write
D) Critical thinking moves civilization forward

Question 19

According to the Xunzi, what would prevent a harmonious and peaceful society?

A) Training in the wrong martial discipline
B) Allowing one's inborn qualities to rule one's actions
C) Squelching one's inborn qualities out of fear
D) Moving away from the land you are from

Question 20

What happened to rulership in China directly following the Warring States Period?

A) The ruler of the new, unified state enforced strict rules and harsh punishments
B) Political thought from ancient Greece reached early China
C) Those of Confucius' hereditary line took the throne
D) Separate states sought mutually beneficial arrangements

Question 21

According to Confucius, doing one's duty is the sole condition for being Good.

Question 22

Confucius believed those who were Good were simply born that way.

Question 23

The sayings attributed to Confucius are called the Kongzi.

Question 24

Confucius modified the meaning of rén to include non-aristocrats.

Question 25

Confucius believed that the way to become rén was through moral self-cultivation.

Question 26

Confucius thought the ways of the past must be overcome to bring about a harmonious society.

Question 27

Confucius' thought included a method for avenging the wrongs done to oneself.

Question 28

The Rectification of Names was the title of an ancient Chinese dictionary.

Question 29

Mencius was not a contemporary of Confucius.

Question 30

Mencius thought that one ought to keep one's body intact, down to the single hair.

Question 31

The metaphor for the spread of one's caring in the Mengzi is ripples from a stone tossed in a pond.

Question 32

Mencius argued that human nature was born neutral and was formed well or badly.

Question 33

A Xunzian society would hold education in very high regard.

Question 34

The Xunzi holds that we must remain as pure and naïve as we were at birth.

Question 35

The Xunzi presumes the importance of moral and social hierarchies, rather than egalitarianism.

Question 36

Why were moral and political concerns central to ancient Chinese philosophy?

Question 37

Why did Confucius travel from state to state for much of his life?

Question 38

Why are the Analects held as a canonical work of ancient Chinese philosophy?

Question 39

Explain how and why Confucius broadened the meaning or rén.

Question 40

Explain how and why Confucius broadened the meaning or rén.

Question 41

Why don't the Analects, the Mengzi, and the Xunzi offer a theory of moral savants, for whom achieving Goodness would be easy?

Question 42

What did Confucius describe "understanding"?

Question 43

What is "filial piety" and why is it an important part of moral development, according to Confucius?

Question 44

Why did Confucius include both formal rituals and informal etiquette in his theory of "ritual propriety"?

Question 45

Why does Confucius react so negatively to the eight rows of dancers at the Ji family celebration?

Question 46

Why was "differentiated love" a central feature of the Mengzi's addition to the philosophy of Confucius?

Question 47

How did Emperor Shun manage to satisfy is familial duty to his younger brother and his responsibility to protect the people of his empire from harm?

Question 48

In the Mengzi, what is the meaning of the water metaphor that Mencius uses to counter the water metaphor in the Gaozi, another philosophy text popular at the time?

Question 49

What was the Xunzi's main contention about the theory of human nature in the Mengzi?

Question 50

How does the Xunzi illustrate the importance of funerary rituals beyond merely performing the appropriate movements and saying the appropriate things?

Question 51

Describe the content and importance of ritual in the Analects, the Mengzi, and the Xunzi. Why where they considered indispensable? Over what parts of life did they apply? What does this say about the moral and social goals of these philosophies?

Question 52

Lay out and discuss the arguments from the Mengzi and the Xunzi regarding human nature. Which do you find more convincing and why? Be sure to explain the context of your appraisal, i.e. what you assume about the nature of contemporary politics versus that of the ancient Chinese philosophers.

Question 53

What is the Rectification of Names and what does it hope to accomplish? How does it link the microcosm of the individual and the macrocosm of society-at-large?

Question 54

Describe the importance of moral self-cultivation in the Analects, the Mengzi, and the Xunzi. How did their approaches differ? What were the expectations of the individual in order to effect a moral transformation? How does moral self-cultivation contribute to a harmonious society?

Question 55

Thinking critically about how the Analects, the Mengzi, and the Xunzi saw the way toward a virtuous and Good society, how do you think they responded to the ascendency of the Legalists? What would be the best course of action for a person who followed the teachings of the Analects, the Mengzi, and the Xunzi in such a society?

Question 56

Explain the theory of "differentiated love" in the Analects, the Mengzi, and the Xunzi. Why was it so important for the achievement of social harmony? Compare and contrast "differentiated love" with the contemporary Western political theories that emphasize equality and egalitarianism.

Question 57

After struggling through Plato and Aristotle, students usually find these thinkers quite accessible-and attractive. I have sometimes taken advantage of this by staging a debate among those favoring one or another view of the good life. Students are allowed to choose whether to defend a Platonist, an Aristotelian, an Epicurean, a Stoic, or a Skeptical approach to the issue. Then these five groups meet independently for twenty minutes or so, planning their defense-and also criticisms of rival views. The rest of the class period is spent in discussion. It can be very lively.

Question 58

Students sometimes say that Epicurus thinks too much pleasure is a bad thing. You can point out that since pleasure is the good, that is not a possibility for him; one cannot have too much pleasure. It is only a question of maximizing this good thing in the long run-and Epicurus is convinced that moderation is the right means for doing that.