Philosophy 302 (Great Philosophers)
Midterm study sheet – Midterm, March 2, 2011
Short answer questions. The following is a list of many of the key terms and concepts we
have discussed so far in class. Use this list to prepare for the short answer section of the
midterm. There will be 10 short answer questions on the exam, of which you are to
answer 8 (5 points each).
Categories
Subjects and predicates
Potentiality - actuality
Four causes
Unmoved mover
Types of soul
Primary substance
teleology
virtue and vice
intellectual and moral virtue
self-sufficiency (happiness)
first/second nature (education)
modernity (characteristics)
reasons for doubt
philosophy and science
universal doubt
I think therefore I am
why God exists
clear and distinct ideas
reason for error
continuity
relation of body to soul
pineal gland
Essay question. Two of the following three will be on the midterm. You are to write an
essay on one of the two (60 points).
1. In the Categories Aristotle distinguishes between primary and secondary
substance. What is this distinction and how does it lay a foundation for the
arguments Aristotle will later make in his Physics and Metaphysics? Note: there is
more than one correct way to go about addressing these questions (just be sure to
be clear and explicit in your discussions).
2. Descartes is frequently considered one of the first “modern” philosophers, and
this is in no small part due to a turn away from Aristotle that Descartes represents.
By comparing and contrasting Aristotle and Descartes, detail those aspects of
Aristotle’s thought that Descartes broke with which led to the emergence of what
came to be called modern philosophy; and where in turn do you see similarities
between Aristotle and Descartes?
3. The proof for the existence of God is an important turning point in Descartes’
Meditations. What is this turning point and why does the proof for the existence
of God become so important at this stage? Explain. Once this argument is in
place, how then does Descartes go on to show that we can know, and know with
certainty, things about the natural world, including whether or not we are
dreaming? And finally, what leads us in to error, according to Descartes?