1. Kosso asks: "Why should we believe what science says about the world?" (p.1). The easy answer, as Kosso himself points out, is: "Science works: planes fly, vaccines work, etc." But Kosso gives us three reasons for thinking a complete answer to the original question may not be so simple. What are they?
2 a. According to Kosso, what is the fundamental aim of science (= of scientific theory)?
2 b. Kosso claims "science... is not meant to be but a refined and accurate description of phenomena" (p.13). Why not? What is it, instead?
3. On Kosso's characterization of "theory," do mythic and religious beliefs count as "theories"?
4. According to Kosso, how can we tell for sure whether some scientific claim is true or not?
5. Characterize the difference between internal and external features of a theory. Can you think of an internal virtue besides the ones Kosso mentions (logically consistent, testable)? Also, are there several different kinds of external virtue, or just one?
6. Does how one discovers a theory have any bearing on whether that theory counts as "scientific" or not, according to Kosso? Why or why not?
7. Outline the hypothetico-deductive (H-D) method of confirmation. What are its weaknesses as a model of how confirmation should work?
8. What is the "underdetermination" argument? What philosophical moral is it intended to show?
2. What is the relationship of CREATOR(S) to CREATED, i.e., the relation between the divine creators and the world of mountains, trees, sky, etc. that they created and we inhabit? Try to group the myths together according to how they treat this issue.
3. Enuma Elish:
(a.) Chart the basic genealogy of gods in the Enuma Elish.
(b.) What do each of the main characters do? (Marduk, Tiamat, Apsu, Ea)
(c.) What is distinctive about the Enuma Elish?--i.e., what sets it apart from the other myths (besides its length)?
4. (Another reflection question- only if you are feeling profound) Why do virtually all human societies have creation stories? --What USE are these myths? what is their puropse or function?
5. (Lecture comprehension question) Apply the theories of myth presented in lecture to the various myths in the Eliade collection.
1. Chart the genealogy of the gods in sections II, III, VIII.
(You can treat the first 12 children of Earth and Sky-- the "Titans"-- as a unit, but note that Cronus is the youngest member of this group. Similarly, you can treat the children of Cronus and Rhea (in VIII) -- the "Olympians" as a unit, but note that Zeus is the youngest member of this group.)
2. Can you find portions of the poem that fit well with particular schools of myth interpretation? Explain.
3. What is Zeus's attitude toward humans? (See pp. 68-69.)
4. How does Cronus come to power (III)? How does Zeus (X)?
More reflective:
5. What progressions/ transitions/ developments occur over the course of the plot?
6. What differences are there between Cronus's seizure of power, and Zeus's seizure of power?
HOMER: Iliad
1. What are the characteristics of the gods in Homer? How do they differ from Homeric humans? (How are they similar?)
2. How is disease depicted in Homer? (See especially p.79)
3. How do humans and gods interact? (e.g. Apollo and his priest Chryses, Athena and Achilles)
4. Why do Achilles and Agamemnon get into a fierce argument?
5. What parallels are there between the plot-line of the human world (in the first part of the text) and the plot-line of the gods' world (in the later text)?
2. What elements do particular Presocratic thinkers borrow/ take over from myth (especially Hesiod, Homer, & Enuma Elish)?
3. (a) What characteristics of divinity do all/most of Presocratics agree upon?
(b.) How does the general Presocratic picture of divinity differ from Hesiod and Homer's conception of divinity?
(c.) What differences are there, more generally, between the Presocratic writings and myths?
4. What are Parmenides' "two roads of inquiry" (p.96)? Which one does he prefer- and why?
5. How do Zeno's arguments support a Parmenidean picture of the world?
6. According to Empedocles, what do "love" and "strife" do? How are they related to the four "roots" or elements?
7. What does Anaxagoras's claim "In everything, there is a portion of everything else" mean (p.160)?
8. What, according to Democritus, is an "atom"? How are Democritus's atoms similar to modern-day atoms? How are they different?
9. Are there cases in which the theories of myth can be insightfully/ fruitfully applied to certain Presocratic claims?
10. According to Karl Popper, what significant properties do Presocratic claims share with modern natural science?
1. Explain the allegory of the cave: what do each of the various elements of the story represent?
2. What is education, according to Plato (writing through Socrates)?
3. What 4 (or 5) subjects does Plato want to include in his curriculum? Why are these important to study?
4. Has the cosmos/ world always existed? Why? (see p.17)
5. Why and how does the creator-god (the "Demiurge") create the universe? (See 19-20; 54-56)
How do the Demiurge's motivations and methods for creating the cosmos differ from
(a.) mythical accounts of creation (esp. the Theogony), and from
(b.) Presocratic accounts of creation?
6. What is the "Receptacle"? (And how is it related to earth, air, fire and water?)
7. What is Plato trying to accomplish with all those triangles?
3. How did medicine get started, according to the author? How do these first medical practices relate to the medical practices of the author now?
4. What, according to the author, are the constituents of the human body? What evidence does he offer for his theory? How does he define health and disease?
6. What is the author's own explanation of the cause of the so-called "Sacred Disease" (=epilepsy)?
7. The author, unlike many Greeks of his time, claims that the intellect and other mental operations take place in the brain. What evidence does he give for his view?
9. What is the relation between the body and seasonal changes in weather, according to the author?
1. What is Aristotle's definition of "nature" and "natural"? What is "nature" contrasted with?
2. What are Aristotle's 2 candidates for "nature"? Which does he prefer?--and why?
3. What are Aristotle's "four causes" (Book II, ch. 3, 7)?
4. Describe the characteristics of Aristotle's god, the "first mover."
5. What are the basic material elements, according to Aristotle? How are they related to (natural) motion?
1. What theories of the Nile's summer flooding are discussed in Herodotus? What arguments does Herodotus give against rival theories?
2. The Greeks and the Egyptians worship many of the same gods; according to Herodotus, did the Egyptians get their gods from the Greeks, or vice versa? How does Herodotus argue for his position?
3. What, according to Herodotus, was the true explanation of the Trojan War? What evidence does Herodotus offer for his account?
4. Describe Thucydides' account of his methods and motivations for historical inquiry.
5. In The Funeral Oration of Pericles, Pericles gives a speech that describes the character of Athens and its people.
(a.) Make a list of the characteristics of Athenians.
(b.) Would any of these characteristics be especially conducive to philosophy/science? Why and how?
6. Thucydides describes a plague in Athens. How does Thucydides' treatment of disease compare with other texts on disease we've looked at this term? (Think especially of Homer and the Hippocratics.)
1. Epicurus and Lucretius adopt, to a degree, Parmenidean ideas about "what is" and "what is not."
(a.) What do they agree with Parmenides about, and what do they disagree with him about?
(b.) What (new) arguments do they give for Parmenidean principles?
2. The Hellenistic atomists (like Democritus before them) assert that "void" (a.k.a. "place," "room") exists. What arguments/ evidence do they give for this assertion?
3. Do colors, sizes, and weight really exist or not, according to the atomists? (see esp. 32-35). What sort of existence do they have?
4. What arguments do the atomists give for the existence of atoms?
5. Describe Epicurus' doctrine of "minimal parts." (p.39) Why does Epicurus hold this view?
6. What are the properties of atoms, and how do they interact with one another? (See especially sections 11 and 12.)
7. Briefly summarize the atomists' representation of divinity. How does it differ from earlier philosopher-scientists' conceptions of god? In what ways is it similar?