PHILOS 1A03 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Socrates, Plato, Soul
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
PHILOS 1A03
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
PHILOS 1A03: Philosophical Texts
September 13, 2018
PHILOS 1A03 → tutorial 1
stewarpg@mcmaster.ca . → UH B107
Euthyphro
● What differentiates Socrates from the avg physicist?
○ It’s j apart of Socrates to question and question everything, that later becomes a sort of tearing
every theory apart that he’s confronted w/
○ He claims he’s looking for wisdom
○ He’s aware of that he doesn’t know everything, whereas others are under the belief that they
know everything → his way of learning is to qs others and understand why they believe what
they believe to gain a sense of understanding
○ Ppl claim an absolute certainty on topics that they firmly believe in, while Socrates comes in and
qs if they really do know
○ It’s also the way he approaches people
● He himself admits that he has no wisdom and therefore that’s why he didn’t write anything
● Philosophy is a way of living and not an argument based topic
● He’s concerned with ethics, he’s more concerned with what makes an ethical life? What is just?
● Plato thinks that he knows what piety is
Ignorance is the cause of evil
● Ignorance can cause evil by accident
○ Being destructive w/ ppl unintentionally as a result of ignorance
○ Euthyphro’s ignorance may have blinded him, and assumed that bringing his father to court was
the right thing; but even Socrates didn’t know what the right thing was so he didn’t say much
■ We don’t know if what he did was the right thing
○ If you’re doing something that is wrong and know that it is wrong and keep doing it, that is
ignorance
● Ignorance is what causes a lot of ppl, who are questioned by Socrates who still believe they are right.
Even after he proves them wrong
● A debate around what is piety vs what isn’t piety
Socrates and Jesus are similar in ways that:
They both didn’t write anything down
They lived out what they believed in
They kind of lived their philosophical ways
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
PHILOS 1A03: Philosophical Texts
Kezia Mathew
September 4&6, 2018
PHILOS → Week 1
Day 1
Socrates: Socrates was a Greek philosopher and the main source of Western thought. Little is known of his life except what
was recorded by his students, including Plato.
● "Socratic method," laid the groundwork for Western systems of logic and philosophy
Euthyphro: written by Plato, is a socratic dialogue, whose events occur in the weeks before the trial of Socrates, for which
Socrates and Euthyphro attempt to establish a definitive meaning for the word piety (virtue)
● Plato's dialog called Euthyphro relates a discussion that took place between Socrates and Euthyphro concerning
the meaning of piety, or that virtue usually regarded as a manner of living that fulfills one's duty both to gods and to
humanity
Day 2
Ancient Philosophy
● 600-500 BCE → PRE SOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY
○ First Greek philosopher in Ionia and S. Italy
● 470-320 BCE → CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHY
○ Socrates, Plato, Aristotle in Athens
● 300-100 BCE → HELLENISTIC PHILOSOPHY
○ Epicureans, Cynics, Stoics
● Everything we know about Socrates is through Plato
● He was prosecuted in Athens
● Euthyphro is a middle aged man and a priest
○ Socrates is on his way to the court, to hear the charges against him
○ Euthyphro is on his way to the same place as he has filed charges against his own father for murders
○ Both euthyphro and socrates are strangers to each other and meet on their way to court
○ When socrates hears what Euthyphro is about to do he is shocked
■ He is disgusted and cannot believe that he is trying to place such charges against his own father
■ Is a horrible piety
● Piety is religious sincerity → a pious person has strong faith
● But it isnt j strong faith, its strong rightness
○ Always taking care to do the right thing
■ A person who is pious is always careful in wanting to to be correct and
accurate
■ So Euthyphro, a priest believes that what he is doing is the right thing
● His father committed a murder by killing one of their slaves in anger
■ Euthyphro is limited in knowledge compared to Socrates
● He has no idea, how little he knows
● Whereas Socrates has conversed with many people like Euthyphro
● Socrates: knowledge is knowing some one thing, some form or idea
● Euthyphro: the pious is all and only that which all the gods love
● Socrates: Do the gods love some actions bc they are pious, or are some acts pious for the simple reason that the
gods love them?
● Euthyphro: the gods love pious acts bc of their piety
● Socrates: so what is the quality of piety? You have not answered my first question!
● What makes a pious act pious
● Euthyphro is about to do a v bad thing
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
It"s j apart of socrates to question and question everything, that later becomes a sort of tearing every theory apart that he"s confronted w/ Ppl claim an absolute certainty on topics that they firmly believe in, while socrates comes in and qs if they really do know. He himself admits that he has no wisdom and therefore that"s why he didn"t write anything. Philosophy is a way of living and not an argument based topic. Plato thinks that he knows what piety is. Being destructive w/ ppl unintentionally as a result of ignorance. Euthyphro"s ignorance may have blinded him, and assumed that bringing his father to court was the right thing; but even socrates didn"t know what the right thing was so he didn"t say much. We don"t know if what he did was the right thing. If you"re doing something that is wrong and know that it is wrong and keep doing it, that is ignorance.
