Up@dawn 2.0

Friday, February 16, 2018

Quizzes Feb 20, 22

LH 2
1. What did Aristotle mean by "one swallow doesn't make a summer"?

2. In Raphael's School of Athens, who reaches out towards the world in front of him?

3. What does eudaimonia mean?

4. How can we increase our chance of eudaimonia?

5. Eudaimonia can only be achieved in relation to what?

6. What is "truth by authority"?

7. How is authority hostile to the spirit of philosophy?

FL 17-18
8. What theme park opened in Brooklyn at the turn of the 20th century?

9. Who was Robert Love Taylor and what did he lecture about?

10. What 1915 movie contributed to the growth of the KKK? 

11. What do southerners turn away from, according to The Mind of the South?

12. What was foolish, according to the modernist New Theology of the early 20th century?

13. How did Christian modernists reconcile scripture with science?

14. What happened in Dayton TN in the summer of 1925, and what did Clarence Darrow say about "what Tennessee had done"?


DQ
  • What's the difference, for you, between pleasure and happiness? 
  • If you were depicted in Raphael's School of Athens whose side would you be on, Plato's or Aristotle's? Or would you be in a posture more like Diogenes's?
  • Do you agree with Aristotle that tragic events occurring after your death, like your child's tragic illness, can still impact your happiness?
  • Are you happy? Are you a hedonist?
  • Do you believe anything strictly on the basis of authority, whether that of a person, an institution, or a tradition? Why or why not?





Quiz Feb 22
1. What did Aristotle set up in 335 BC?

2. What was dearer to Aristotle than Plato?

3. What was the fundamental difference between Aristotle and Plato, and how was it reflected in his attitude towards the "cave"?

4. What three things did Aristotle say are always involved in change?

5. What was Aristotle's name for God, and what did he say He thinks about?

6. How does Aristotle's view of the fundamental type of existence contrast with Plato's theory of Forms?


FL 19-20
7. How did [does] movies narrow the gap between fantasy and reality?


8. How did [does] advertizing use fantasies?

9. Who did some in Orson Welles' radio audience think his fictional Martians might be?

10. What increased by orders of magnitude in the first three decades of the 20th century, with what result?

11. What fantasy was Frank Lloyd Wright the principal author of?

12. What's the great ballad of American utopian pastoral fantasy?

13. What is "America squared"?

14. What's changed about where Americans move, since 1900?

DQ

  • Would you rather attend Plato's Academy or Aristotle's Lyceum? Why?
  • Have you ever sharply disagreed with a teacher whom you nonetheless deeply admired?
  • Is change the only constant in the Universe? Is that paradoxical?
  • Which God seems more plausible to you, one who is personally interested in human affairs or Aristotle's contemplative and self-regarding Mover? Which seems more compatible with the world as we know it?
  • Are forms in things, or do they stand apart and above as pure Ideas?
  • What do you see as the value of logic?
  • How can a person excel at "the art of living"? (275) Did Aristotle have the right idea about this? Do you have any role-models in this regard?
  • Aristotle said we philosophize not in order to know what excellence is, but to be excellent and become good. (283) Is this a false dichotomy? Do you have to know what good is, at least implicitly, before you can be good?
  • Is art a "cave within a cave" (286), or a source of light and truth? Or both?
  • Do you agree with Plato that "laughing at comedies makes us cyncial, shallow and ignoble"? (289)
  • If you side with Aristotle in preferring to study "earthly things" does that imply less interest in "thoughts of the heavens"? (290)



Russell: IN the corpus of Aristotle's works, three treatises on ethics have a place, but tow of these are now generally held to be by disciples. the third, the Nicomachean Ethics, remains for the most part unquestioned as to authenticity, but even in this book there is a portion (Books V, VI, and VII) which is held by many to have been incorporated from one of the works of disciples. I shall, however, ignore this controversial question, and treat the book as a whole and as Aristotle's. The views of Aristotle on ethics represent, in the main, the prevailing opinions of educated and experienced men of his day. They are not, like Plato's, impregnated with mystical religion; nor do they -172- countenance such unorthodox theories as are to be found in the Republic concerning property and the family. Those who neither fall below nor rise above the level of decent, well-behaved citizens will find in the Ethics a systematic account of the principles by which they hold that their conduct shold be regulated. Those who demand anything more will be disappointed. The book appeals to the respectable middle-aged, and has been used by them, especially since the seveteenth century, to repress the ardours and enthusiasms of the young. But to a man with any depth of feeling it cannot but be repulsive. The good, we are told, is happiness, which is an activity of the soul. Aristotle says that Plato was right in dividing the soul into tow parts, one rational, the other irrational. The irrational part itself he divides into the vegetative (which is found even in plants) and the appetitive (which is found in all animals). the appetitive part may be in some degree rational, when the goods that it seeks are such as reason approves of. This is essential to the account of virtue, for reason alone, in Aristotle, is purely contemplative, and does not, without the help of appetite, lead to any practical activity. There are tow kinds of virtues, intellectual and moral, corresponding to the two parts of the soul. Intellectual virtues result from teaching, moral virtues from habit. It is the business of the legislator to make the citizens good by forming good habits. We become just by performing just acts, and similarly as regards other virtues. By being compelled to acquire good habits, we shall in time, Aristotle thinks, come to find pleasure in performing good actions. One is reminded of Hamlet's speech to his mother: Assume a virtue if you have it not. That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat, Of habits devil, is angel, yet in this, That to the use of actions fair and good He likewise gives a frock or livery That aptly is put on. We now come to the famous doctrine of the golden mean. Every virtue is a mean between two extremes, each of which is a vice. This is proved by an examination of the various virtues. Courage is a mean between cowardice and rashness; liberality, between prodigality and -173- meanness; proper pride, between vanity and humility; ready wit, between buffoonery and boorishness; modesty, between bashfulness and shamelessness. Some virtues do not seem to fit into this scheme; for instance, truthfulness. Aristotle says that this is a mean between boastfulness and mock-modesty (1108a), but this only applies to truthfulness about oneself. I do not see how truthfulness in any wider sense can be fitted into the scheme. There was once a mayor who had adopted Aristotle's doctrine; at the end of his term of office he made a speech saying that he had endeavoured to steer the narrow line between partiality on the one hand and impartiality on the other. The view of truthfulness as a mean seems scarcely less absurd. Aristotle's opinions on moral questions are always such as were conventional in his day. One some points they differ from those of our time, chiefly where some form of aristocracy comes in. We think that human beings, at least in ethical theory, all have equal rights, and that justice involves equality; Aristotle thinks that justice involves, not equality, but right proportion, which is only sometimes equality...
IEP: Aristotle is a towering figure in ancient Greek philosophy, making contributions to logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance and theatre. He was a student of Plato who in turn studied under Socrates. He was more empirically-minded than Plato or Socrates and is famous for rejecting Plato's theory of forms.
As a prolific writer and polymath, Aristotle radically transformed most, if not all, areas of knowledge he touched. It is no wonder that Aquinas referred to him simply as "The Philosopher." In his lifetime, Aristotle wrote as many as 200 treatises, of which only 31 survive. Unfortunately for us, these works are in the form of lecture notes and draft manuscripts never intended for general readership, so they do not demonstrate his reputed polished prose style which attracted many great followers, including the Roman Cicero. Aristotle was the first to classify areas of human knowledge into distinct disciplines such as mathematics, biology, and ethics. Some of these classifications are still used today.
As the father of the field of logic, he was the first to develop a formalized system for reasoning. Aristotle observed that the validity of any argument can be determined by its structure rather than its content. A classic example of a valid argument is his syllogism: All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal. Given the structure of this argument, as long as the premises are true, then the conclusion is also guaranteed to be true. Aristotle’s brand of logic dominated this area of thought until the rise of modern propositional logic and predicate logic 2000 years later.
Aristotle’s emphasis on good reasoning combined with his belief in the scientific method forms the backdrop for most of his work. For example, in his work in ethics and politics, Aristotle identifies the highest good with intellectual virtue; that is, a moral person is one who cultivates certain virtues based on reasoning. And in his work on psychology and the soul, Aristotle distinguishes sense perception from reason, which unifies and interprets the sense perceptions and is the source of all knowledge.
Aristotle famously rejected Plato’s theory of forms, which states that properties such as beauty are abstract universal entities that exist independent of the objects themselves. Instead, he argued that forms are intrinsic to the objects and cannot exist apart from them, and so must be studied in relation to them. However, in discussing art, Aristotle seems to reject this, and instead argues for idealized universal form which artists attempt to capture in their work.

Aristotle was the founder of the Lyceum, a school of learning based in Athens, Greece; and he was an inspiration for the Peripatetics, his followers from the Lyceum... IEP

“One swallow does not make a summer,
neither does one fine day; 
similarly one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy.” 

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” 

“What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.” 

“Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.” 

“Anybody can become angry — that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way — that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.” 

“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” 

“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives - choice, not chance, determines your destiny.” 

“Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.”

“The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living differ from the dead.” 

More quotes attributed to Aristotle...

23 comments:

  1. #8
    -What's the difference, for you, between pleasure and happiness?

    Pleasure and happiness are definitely different. I feel like one is physical while the other is mental.

    -Are you happy? Are you a hedonist?

    I am not a hedonist, as I am not driven by or for pleasure. I would consider myself a happy person, as well as care more for happiness rather than pleasure.

    -Do you believe anything strictly on the basis of authority, whether that of a person, an institution, or a tradition? Why or why not?

    I feel like many people do believe things on the basis of authority without even realizing it. So I would say it's not only me who does, but basically everyone else if they're not asking the question why.

    ReplyDelete
  2. #8
    Alternate Discussion Questions:
    -Are more people driven by happiness or pleasure?
    -Is being angry considered bad in all cases?

    ReplyDelete
  3. #3
    What's the difference, for you, between pleasure and happiness?
    Personally, pleasure is a part of happiness; vice versa, happiness is made of tiny, simple pleasures.

    ReplyDelete
  4. #8
    DQ's
    1. To me pleasure is something that you get for a short amount of time and it makes you happy.
    2. I think I would be on Aristotle's side.
    3. I don't think that if you can't be there to fully experience something, than it can not deeply impact on the same level as if you were there.
    4. I don't really know if I am happy. Come back to me in 5-10 years and I will let you know.
    5. I like tradition because it is always there and it is the way things have always been done.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ashley Thomson8:53 PM CST

    #3
    DQ
    1. What's the difference, for you, between pleasure and happiness? 
    I feel like pleasure is something that makes you feel good and happiness is a feeling.

    2. Do you agree with Aristotle that tragic events occurring after your death, like your child's tragic illness, can still impact your happiness?
    I do not agree because I think God does not let us see those horrible things once we are in Heaven.

    3. Are you happy? Are you a hedonist?
    I think happy is a broad question, I mean I am happy that I have a loving and caring family but I do not think that I am happy at every moment of the day. No, I am not I believe that there are more important things than pleasure in life.

    4. Do you believe anything strictly on the basis of authority, whether that of a person, an institution, or a tradition? Why or why not?
    No, the only person I believe is God and I think Gods word in the Bible tells us what to believe and what not to believe.

    Extra Quiz Question
    5. Do you think that happiness really depends on luck? If so why?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Maria Rodriguez9:27 PM CST

    #3 Alternate Discussion Questions:
    -Would such an event as the Scopes Trials be as famous today as it was back then?
    -How true today is "Mind of the South's" claim that the American South relies on fantasies more than reality?

    ReplyDelete
  7. #3
    The difference for me between pleasure and happiness:
    I think that pleasure is something that everyone seeks in order to find happiness. Pleasures are small things that we may gain through socializing with friends, or spending time with our families, however happiness is a much bigger aspect. Happiness is based off of a bunch of things, like we may experience a bunch of small pleasures, but not actually be happy in the grand scheme of things.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Am I happy? Am I a hedonist?
      I believe I am a happy person. I think happiness is a more important aspect than pleasure, therefore I am not a hedonist. Happiness is something everyone should try to strive for in today's society in order to live a full, healthy life. Happiness is a key to keeping a strong head and staying on the right path to success.

      Delete
  8. 1. I believe pleasure is learned and happiness is inherent By seeking pleasure we hope to maintain happiness.

    2. In death we gain a new sense of life. Having that understanding allows us to accept such events and better understand them therefore it does not affect our happiness in death.

    3. Happiness is inherent therefore I am happy. I have my moments of despair but happiness is what brings me back to life. I do not seek out pleasure, I let it come to me. Although as a youth, I was consumer with pleasure.

    4. no, I appreciate and respect there "opinion", but I prefer to make my own conclusion.

    5. Again, Happiness is inherent. We either accept it or we don't, but we are all born happy, we just need to learn to embrace it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. #3 To answer the discussion questions
    1) Pleasure is a short term spurt of enjoyment; happiness is genuine enjoyment that is ever lasting.
    2) I'm pretty sure I'll be on Plato's side. His side seems to have more of the mathmaticians.
    3) No; I think that if one actually finds happiness, even sad days won't keep you down for much.
    4) I would say I am happy. I wouldn't say I'm a hedonist, as evident in my life I think I'll give up pleasure for more important things.
    5) I tend to do so when I know it's just authority; the reason being is that I like structure and just authority creates structure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To answer the other discussion questions:
      1) Plato's Academy; because I like Plato's ideas more
      2) Nope I haven't
      3) No, many things are constant. I don't think so.
      4) more personally interested God; The former
      5) Forms are in things
      6) I value logic greatly
      7) I disagree with Plato
      8) I believe it does since one is focusing more on the Earth

      Delete
  10. 1) Pleasure is short term, but happiness is a state of mind.
    2) I don't agree because I don't think it matters after death.
    3) Yes, I am happy, but I don't consider myself a hedonist.
    4) I don't believe in anything strictly based on authority, because I believe authority should always be questioned.

    ReplyDelete
  11. #8

    1. Pleasure is temporary while happiness is a state of being.
    5. Depending on the authority figure, yes I do believe in some things based off of authority.

    ReplyDelete
  12. #8
    -Have you ever sharply disagreed with a teacher whom you nonetheless deeply admired?

    I have, and I think that's okay because we are all entitled to our own opinions.

    -Is change the only constant in the Universe? Is that paradoxical?

    I feel as though that is true, but hard to wrap your head around.

    -Which God seems more plausible to you, one who is personally interested in human affairs or Aristotle's contemplative and self-regarding Mover? Which seems more compatible with the world as we know it?

    God is definitely personally interested in our lives, and that seems more compatible.

    -Are forms in things, or do they stand apart and above as pure Ideas?

    I feel as though forms are in things.

    -What do you see as the value of logic?

    Logic leads to understanding.

    -How can a person excel at "the art of living"? (275) Did Aristotle have the right idea about this? Do you have any role-models in this regard?

    I would say they know how to live life to the fullest. Many people, I would say are out there living their best life.

    -Aristotle said we philosophize not in order to know what excellence is, but to be excellent and become good. (283) Is this a false dichotomy? Do you have to know what good is, at least implicitly, before you can be good?

    I feel as though a person doesn't need to know what is good. Children can be nice sometimes before they barely understand right from wrong.

    -Is art a "cave within a cave" (286), or a source of light and truth? Or both?

    I feel as though it's a source of light and truth, allowing people to see something from a different perspective.

    -Do you agree with Plato that "laughing at comedies makes us cyncial, shallow and ignoble"? (289)

    I disagree. Why would laughing make us those things? If anything, I think it makes us connect more with the people we're laughing at since their goal was to make us laugh.

    ReplyDelete
  13. #3
    alternative quiz questions:
    How dramatic was the change of American advertisers’ spending from 1900 and late 1920s?
    When was the first Hollywood gossip column created?

    ReplyDelete
  14. #8
    DQ's
    2. I've never had a real disagreement with a teacher that I can remember.
    3. I think we always need to keep changing because the world might become boring if we don't find change.
    4. I think a God should be interested in the people that he oversees. We have all of these things in life today that can distract us from God though.
    5. I think forms are in things.
    6. Many things in today's world requires logic yet logic doesn't come as often as it is needed, and logic can get you very far.
    7. I don't think any can excel at the art of living, but they can make their life the best life.
    8. A person wants to fully understand something to become achieve excellence in something. You need to know what is considered as good to become good.
    9. Art is something special that forms its own truth.
    10. I think laughing is something that is needed in this world in order to make it more enjoyable.
    11. No, you may just want to understand the Earth more than you want to understand the Heaven's.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Maria Rodriguez9:15 PM CST

    #3 250+ word Topic Essay
    During high school, a chemistry teacher was quotes with saying “looking into a cave is like looking into a cave.” My classmates and I dismissed it as a pseudo-philosophical phrase that someone would say when high, and we brought up the phrase when we heard someone else attempting to sound smart. Upon reading the parable of the cave, the stupid phrase still sounds stupid, but it has gained some nuance. Looking into a cave is like looking into a cave because looking outside from inside the cave gives the seer another, separate perspective on how live works. When the prisoners stay in the caves for the entirety of their lives, they only know the cave. They grow up in the cave. They come to love the cave and the life that it gives them. When one prisoner left the cave and sees the outside world, I imagine that the prisoner felt paralyzed, amazed, and, even, betrayed. How could he have lived such a confining life in the cave for so long without realizing that he was trapped? There was a world of possibility for him to explore, but he was stuck for years of his life- years that he cannot redeem. He thought of his friends and told them of the good news, but they shunned him. The life that he knew crumbles around him, but he has life outside of the cave to enjoy while he still can. The prisoner realized that that the cave was special in its own time, but now he has the outside to enjoy. Looking into a cave is like looking into a cave. The cave, eventually, is just a cave to the corresponding person even if the transition between a state of loving the cave and a state of respecting what it was leads was an emotional rollercoaster.


    Alternative quiz questions:
    -How does Aristotle refute the ideas of other philosophers in accordance to his views?
    -Who were supposed to live in the suburbs? (Fantasyland)

    ReplyDelete
  16. #3
    DQ
    1. Would you rather attend Plato's Academy or Aristotle's Lyceum? Why?
    Aristotle’s Lyceum just because I find him more interesting.

    2. Have you ever sharply disagreed with a teacher whom you nonetheless deeply admired?
    Yes, it was over something about the way a church works.

    3. Is change the only constant in the Universe? Is that paradoxical?
    I think things are changing all the time so I think so. It sounds paradoxical but I do not think it is.

    4. Which God seems more plausible to you, one who is personally interested in human affairs or Aristotle's contemplative and self-regarding Mover? Which seems more compatible with the world as we know it?
    I think the one is interested in humans and I think a God being interested in us is the best thing.

    5. Are forms in things, or do they stand apart and above as pure Ideas?
    I don’t believe that there ever was a pure idea because there is always something or someone that sparked that idea.

    6. What do you see as the value of logic?
    I think it is one of the most important things to have and without it you are ignorant.

    Extra Quiz Questions
    7. Do you think it is possible to believe things from Aristotle and Plato?

    8. How does knowing what form God comes in help us understand him?

    9. In Fantasyland, how do movies change our realities of life?

    ReplyDelete
  17. #8
    DR: Ch.12
    Alternative Quiz Questions:
    1. Why did Aristotle think that worker bees could not be female?
    2. Whose works, published in 1620, explicitly sought to supplant
    Aristotle' writings on scientific method?
    3. Who is 'the master of those who know'?
    4. According to Aristotle, what are the four main things one should
    ask about something?
    Alternative Discussion Question:
    1. Do you agree with Aristotle that the universe has always been?
    Why or why not?


    FL: Ch.19-20
    Alternative Quiz Questions
    1. Citizens of our eternally new nation are suckers for _________
    and ___________.
    2. After the world war, what percentage of movies were American
    movies?
    3. In a 1929 book called 'The Film Finds its Tongue', the author was
    gobsmacked by the first sound film he'd seen: "it was like
    watching a man fly without wings. It was uncanny... No wonder the
    next day, a scientist called it
    ________________________________________."
    4. What/Who was Americas first news-magazine?

    ReplyDelete
  18. #3

    1. the difference between pleasure and happiness to me is that happiness is long lasting where pleasure is a short spike of "happiness".

    ReplyDelete
  19. #8
    Discussion Question:
    Aristotle said we philosophize not in order to know what excellence is, but to be excellent and become good. (283) Is this a false dichotomy? Do you have to know what good is, at least implicitly, before you can be good?

    - Yes, i believe one has to learn to be good, just as one has to
    learn to be bad.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Aldair Avalos Madera11:07 AM CST

    #8
    1.) Have you ever sharply disagreed with a teacher whom you nonetheless deeply admired? Yes, but it was because I was ignorant about the subject at the time and they helped me work through it.
    2.) Is change the only constant in the Universe? Is that paradoxical? Change is technically the only constant thing in the Universe because at every second of every day something, somewhere there's changes happening. No it's not paradoxical because the fact that things are changing all the time is constant.
    3.) Are forms in things, or do they stand apart and above as pure Ideas? I believe they're both because the form to become a thing, it has to start with some type of idea. If you don't think of something to make then that thing will never be made, by you at least. Therefore, I believe that it has to be both.
    4.) What do you see as the value of logic? Logic is what allows people to think on their own regardless of what other people say. If someone came and told you things that didn't make sense because they were illogical, then you have the ability to have your own thoughts about it. It also works as a sort of filter for decisions that are made, hopefully.
    5.) Which God seems more plausible to you, one who is personally interested in human affairs or Aristotle's contemplative and self-regarding Mover? Which seems more compatible with the world as we know it? I think Aristotle's contemplative and self-regarding Mover is the God that seems more plausible. It wouldn't make sense for something that powerful to be focused on such a extremely tiny park of the Universe we live in. I feel like that is the most compatible with the world as we know it as well because if it were the other way around, then there would be nothing but peace in this world in my opinion and everything would be perfect; However since it's neither-or, it's the only one that makes logical sense to me.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Jasper Von Buseck12:42 PM CST

    I would rather go to the Lyceum, because it was a peripatetic school, and included books on a wide range of academic subjects that seemed really interesting to me.

    One time in high school I had a physics teacher who was very brilliant and charismatic. I remember she was really nice, and pretty at helping out kids who were having difficulties in her class. However, she was a Christian who believed that people who weren't Christian were going to hell.

    I believe that change is the constant in the universe. Although it is paradoxical, it just makes sense to me. The best way I can explain it is by looking at the solar system. It's still there, even though the planets are spinning around the sun. Eventually, the planets will get further away, but only over a large course of time.

    #8
    The value I see in logic is pure rationalization. It can help you make good decisions, think about things in an unbiased way, and even help you decide whatever concept you want to believe in the world.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.