The Official Trollface Socrates Midterm Study Guide (H-01)

Alright, this is it: Trollface Socrates' masterful guide of study questions. It's been fun philosophizing with you guys, now it's time to bring it all home. I may have edited some of the questions so that everything makes sense when read. Otherwise, this is the definitive guide to all of the questions that have ever been posed in any of our blog posts. Happy studying!:

The Great Quizlet (Factual Questions)

1. Rousseau's name to the collective thought that is ultimately good for society is called The ____________Answer: General Will
   
2. True or False: According to Rosseau's philosophy, we are free when following the general will, even if we are being forced to follow it. Answer: True
   
3. Was Pascal only famous for his philosophical beliefs?Answer: No, he also had his feet in mathematics, chemistry, and other academic disciplines.
   
4. Is Stoicism being in control of your emotions or devoid of them?Answer: Stoicism is using logic above all else, essentially riding yourself of emotions.
   
5. As a Skeptic, Pyrrho believed what?Answer: Pyrrho beleived that you should doubt anything you hear, because everything can be questioned.
   
6. Why is the life of Socrates so important to the early days of Philosophy?Answer: Because Socrates was the first person to challenge people's conceptions and preconceived notions about the world, he is famous for making the people of Athens think critically about how they lived their lives.
   
7. True or False: There is always one true answer to all of life's question that philosophy can answer.Answer: False
   
8. Can one claim that there is absolutely no certainty in the world?
   Answer: If that's a person's stance, then they couldn't make that claim with 100% certainty. (NO)
   
   
9. What is the difference between a Stoic and a Pragmatist?
   Answer: Stoicism advocates for the distrust of the senses, while Pragmatism argues the case for empiricism and science-based discoveries using our senses. 
   
   
10. True or False: Boethius was one of the last prominent philosophers of the Roman Empire
    Answer: True
    
    
    
    
    
    

The Grand Feast (Discussion Questions)

1. Can anyone think of any instance (fictional or historical) where a society was better off living in smaller quarters?
   
2. Is the invocation of God or any other deity figure detrimental to a healthy philosophical discussion?
   
3. Do you think that the power of  our fears is enough to dictate our lives like it did Pascal's? If not, do you think the power of our dreams is enough to overcome it
   
4. Does letting fear have an impact on our life decisions negatively affect us? Or is it a good thing?
   
5. If you force yourself to believe out of fear (pascal's wager), and ultimately do become a true believer... would that lead to salvation since your motives were wrong
   
6. Faith is something, by definition, that often depends on your own intrinsic beliefs and irrational thoughts. So, when presented with tests of [your] faith, what do you think the effect of loaded questions like these really has on how a person views their faith?
   
7. Are there certain emotions you can't control? Or do we have the ability to control every feeling we have? If there are certain emotions you can't control than can a person ever truly be a Stoic?
   
8. How might stoicism feel about love? Should we deny it to ourselves--and is that forsaking our humanity to do so?
   
9. Do you think that these philosophers that we've been discussing really lived every day in the mindset that they preach, or do you think that some just coughed up various philosophies for the fame and didn't always practice what they preach?
   
10. Is Stoicism even close realistic or possible?
    
11. Is true happiness something that can ever be achieved?
    
12. Do you think Pyrrho could have believed in happiness when he said we should never trust our senses and emotions?
    
13.  If you consider the personal journey for knowledge and the truth to be the makings of a philosopher, then the logical conclusion drawn from is that answer is that you have to consider anyone seriously searching for truth and wisdom about this world and beyond to be a philosopher. So does that make us, students of philosophy, sort of mini-philosophers as well? And for those who don't think so, at what point must a person reach to "officially" be considered a philosopher?
    
14. Going by the definition of philosophy and, by extension, a philosopher, can Jesus Christ really be labeled as philosopher? Assuming you're a Christian, and you take His word to be truth for all of humanity, can he be a philosopher if He already has and is preaching the truth?