Chapter 1 Essay Questions

What Is Philosophy?

1. Plato: Socratic Wisdom

  1. What does Socrates mean when he says that his main task has been to urge people to care about the greatest improvement of their souls?
  2. Socrates says that the unexamined life is not worth living. Do you agree with him? Why or why not?

2. Plato: The Allegory of the Cave

  1. How is the Allegory of the Cave a metaphor for the search for the true and the good through philosophy?
  2. The prisoners scorn the enlightened one. Is this usually the way people react to those with unconventional views? How would Plato want us to react?

3. John Locke: Of Enthusiasm and the Quest for Truth

  1. How does Locke explain the relationship between reason and revelation?
  2. Locke urges us to not entertain “any proposition with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon will warrant.” What does this mean? If you adopted this principle, what would be your attitude toward the claims of religion? Of science?

4. Bertrand Russell: The Value of Philosophy

  1. In Russell’s view, how can the uncertainty that philosophy breeds be beneficial?
  2. According to Russell, how does philosophical endeavor lead to transcendence?
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