Ancient & Medieval Philosophy Study Guide 1
Augustine What does Augustine think is the point of our lives? What is evil, according to Augustine? Does God create anything evil? Why or why not? What are the two kinds of laws, according to Augustine? What is the difference between them? What is the source of wrong actions? Are our wills bad? Why do we want to do wrong things? How does Augustine distinguish kinds of freedom? Are we free to perform wrong actions? Explain.
Boethius Does one’s happiness depend on things that can be taken away by misfortune? Why or why not? What criteria does Philosophy say happiness needs to meet? Name three things that Philosophy says do not constitute happiness, and state why. What does ultimately constitute happiness? Why? Why do bad things happen to good people? Explain your answer.
Anselm How does Anselm define “God”? Give Anselm’s argument for God’s existence. Justify, as best as you can, the second premise. Give one objection to Anselm’s argument. Is it convincing? Why or why not? How do contemporary philosophers recast the ontological argument?
Aquinas State what possible, actual, and necessary beings are. What is the difference between essence and existence? Say how this difference is relevant to the above three categories (possible, actual, and necessary.) Give the vertical cosmological argument for God’s existence. Is it convincing? Why or why not? How does the above argument show that God is perfect? Describe some other attributes, besides perfection, that Aquinas thinks God has, and say how they are derived from the above argument. Give an apparent inconsistency between monotheism and the doctrine of the trinity. How does Aquinas resolve the apparent inconsistency? Be able to identify a similar solution to the doctrine of the incarnation. What kind of thing does Aquinas say we are? Does our soul continue to exist after death? Why or why not? What does Aquinas say is the point of our lives? Make sure to distinguish natural and supernatural ends. Give Aquinas’ four cardinal virtues, and be able to give concrete examples of the virtues.
Averroes Give the Kalam Cosmological argument. Be able to justify each of the premises. What attributes does God have if the argument is successful? What objections do people typically give to the argument? What is the relationship between faith and reason, according to Averroes? What should one do if their philosophical arguments seem to contradict Scripture? What does Averroes believe we are? How does he show this?
Confucius How does Confucius say we should live? Describe a debate within Confucianism about what kind of things we are and what should be done about it.
Zhuangzi How should we discover how we should live? Give some illustrations Zhuangzi uses to show this. In Zhuangzi a relativist about truth? Why or why not? How does Zhuangzi think should we live? What is evil?
Bhagavad Gita What is the self? How do we relate to everything else? What is God like? What is our relationship to God? Give one critique of this view of God. Compare and contrast ideas of God in the Bhagavad Gita, Averroes, and Aquinas. What is karma, and why is it important? Is karma a kind of punishment? What is the goal of our lives? How have some Hindu philosophers proposed we meet this goal? Compare the Hindu and the Platonic view of reincarnation. How can karma help answer the question: Why do bad things happen to good people? Explain how karma can help provide moral motivation for hedonistic philosophers.
The Buddha What are we, according to the Buddha? What is our goal in life? How does The Buddha think we should act, and why? Compare The Buddha’s philosophy to Parmenides’ philosophy. What are koans, and what is their point?