NOTE: these tests should be used in conjunction with the course notes, though they may not match those notes perfectly.
The Greek Philosophers on Body and Soul
Note that some words may be used more than once.
Many philosophers have argued that there are two ultimate realities in the universe: mind (soul/spirit) and matter. This philosophical position is known as ___________ .
A Greek philosopher who argued for this position was _________ . In his early philosophy, he argued that the soul was a simple substance which has no parts and is therefore indestructible.
But in his later dialogues, he seems to have changed his mind. As we are often in conflict with ourselves, he thought that this must be because of conflicting forces within the soul. So he came to think of the soul as having three aspects : _________ (the higher soul), ____________ (the lower soul) and ________ . In the __________, he came up with the image of a ______________ to explain this, consisting of an obedient white horse representing ___________, a dark horse representing __________, and the ___________ himself representing _____________ . It is through the use of ____________ that we can find our way back to the world of the
_________ from which we came. __________ also believed in ____________ and came up with a theory of ______________ to explain how this was possible. According to this theory, the soul comes into the world with knowledge gained from the world of the __________ but most of this has been forgotten due to the trauma of birth. Education is therefore not about learning but _______________ . In the ________ he gives the example of a ________ _____ who seemed to have innate knowledge of mathematical proofs. However, it could be argued that the ________ ____ was just a mathematics prodigy. And _________’s philosophy is vulnerable here to the problem of _____________ that can also be used to criticise the __________ ___________ of the later philosopher _____________ : if what I am is something non-physical, how can what is non-physical make my body do anything?
The philosopher ____________ also came up with his ________ ____ argument to object to the existence of the world of the __________ . He argued that for the ________ of man to have any content, it would have to be based on a higher _______ of man, and this too would have to based on higher ________, and so on ad infinitum .
_____________ was also a dualist. He believed in the soul but thought that it was the
______________ principle of the body. The soul imprints itself on matter in the same way that a _________ imprints itself on _______ .
He also thought that the soul was not something exclusively human: all living things have one. Plants, for example, have a ____________ and _____________ soul while animals have a _____________ soul. Humans have these souls as well as a ___________ soul that allows them to think and reason. But in higher life forms these souls are not separate. There is only one soul in each creature but the qualities of the lower types of soul are incorporated into the higher.
Because ___________ did not believe in the world of the _________ he comes very close to the philosophy of ______________ which maintains that there is no soul and that we are essentially something physical : our bodies. This is a view maintained by the modern philosopher ___________ ___________ . However, _____________ did believe that a part of us may survive death. He used the Greek term _________ to describe this but it seems to just refer to pure ____________ and is not something personal. In other words, we do not experience life after death as ‘me’.
Select from the following list of names, words and phrases to fill in the blanks. Note that some words are used more than once.
animating, nutritive, Recollection, materialism, Aristotle, Phaedrus, sensitive, Richard Dawkins, interaction, seal, Third Man, dualism, nous, appetites, Descartes, will, Meno, intellect, substance dualism, Charioteer, wax, reason, rational, Plato, reproductive, slave boy, Forms, reincarnation, Form,
Match the philosopher on the left to the views on the right
Descartes Maintained that the soul is not immortal but impersonal intellect (nous) is.
Plato Considers the idea that God might create
a perfect replica of us in a resurrection
world to be both logically possible and
coherent.
Dawkins Believed that evidence for the soul is provided by
our recollection of mathematical truths that
have not been taught to us.
St Paul Claimed that when we treat the ‘mind’ or
soul as an object which is separate from our
behaviours that we are guilty of a ‘category
error’.
H.H. Price Argues that we are just genetically driven ‘survival
machines’.
Ryle Argued that we are all non-physical spiritual
substances encased in a body.
Hick Claimed that a disembodied existence in which we
communicate telepathically was a logical
possibility.
Aristotle Stated that after death we acquire a ‘spiritual
body’ which is an improvement on our
physical body
Reincarnation and the Problem of Evil
Fill in the blanks. NOTE: some words are used more than once.
Both Hindus and Buddhists believe in the law of ___________ , according to which the suffering we experience in our ___________ life is because of our behaviour in a _________ one. Hindus additionally believe that we possess a soul or _________
which continually ______________ until we achieve _________ (release from the cycle of rebirth), following which we realise our identity with _____________ (the One, eternal reality which we are all part of). As we do not usually perceive that we are part of an eternal unchanging reality, suffering in life also arises from _______ (or illusion) because it seems to us that death is real and we fear it.
Buddhists, however, are ___________ and so there is no problem of evil in Buddhism. For them, _________ or suffering is just a natural feature of the universe. They also believe that good and bad karma arises from our ___________ rather than our actions.
Both Hindus and Buddhists believe that living an ethical life and practising lots of ______________ frees us from the round of rebirth. However, Buddhism does not teach that we become one with _____________. Instead, all Buddhists are concerned with is putting a stop to suffering, and when this happens we achieve a state called ____________ . Buddhists also do not believe in the Hindu ________ or soul. Instead, the Buddhist teaching of _________ or ‘no-self’ maintains that because we are part of an ever-changing reality with no beginning or end, nothing about us is permanent.
A possible strength of the Buddhist and Hindu teaching about evil is that both of these faiths take into account the suffering of __________ and we are encouraged not to harm them. This is a type of suffering that is arguably neglected in both the _____________ and ____________ theodicies.
However, as __________ are something we all might have been in our past lives, there is a problem with the law of __________ as it could be argued that ____________ act instinctively. It therefore seems strange to think of them as being somehow morally accountable for their actions.
Also, _________ razor suggests that there is a much simpler explanation as to why good and bad things happen to us: chance or coincidence.
Other problems to do with reincarnation as an explanation for both evil and what we are like in the next world have been identified by _______. Firstly, it has been argued that _________ and _____________ ________ are insufficient as a way of establishing that Person x was person y in a previous life. First of all, __________ are shared. They are not limited to one person. And ___________ __________ are too general and also shared by far too many people. Finally, the explanation for why we suffer seems endlessly deferred because it is always explained in terms of a previous life, or the one before that, and so on. And if there was a very first incarnation when we make our debut in the cycle of rebirth, then we might be entitled to an explanation for any suffering we experience in that first life and the law of _________ does not seem capable of supplying it.
Apart from philosophical problems with the idea of reincarnation, there are issues with the evidence for it too. For example, the researcher ____ ____________ has investigated many cases of child past lives and drawn the conclusion that reincarnation is the best explanation for them. However, _________ has criticised these case studies and has pointed out that they tend to occur in cultures where belief in reincarnation is already widespread. They could, therefore be pseudo-memories.
Transmigrates, personality traits, anatta, atheists, previous, Ian Stevenson, intentions, animals, Irenaean, meditation, karma, Hick, atman, present, Ockham’s, Augustinian, Nirvana, Brahman, moksha, memories, dukkha, maya.
ANSWERS
The Greek Philosophers on Body and Soul
Many philosophers have argued that there are two ultimate realities in the universe: mind (soul/spirit) and matter. This philosophical position is known as dualism.
A Greek philosopher who argued for this position was Plato. In his early philosophy, he argued that the soul was a simple substance which has no parts and is therefore indestructible.
But in his later dialogues, he seems to have changed his mind. As we are often in conflict with ourselves, he thought that this must be because of conflicting forces within the soul. So he came to think of the soul as having three aspects :Reason (the higher soul), Appetites (the lower soul) and Will . In the Phaedrus, he came up with the image of a charioteer to explain this, consisting of an obedient white horse representing will, a dark horse representing appetites, and the charioteer himself representing reason. It is through the use of reason that we can find our way back to the world of the Forms from which we came. Plato also believed in reincarnation and came up with a theory of recollection to explain how this was possible. According to this theory, the soul comes into the world with knowledge gained from the world of the Forms but most of this has been forgotten due to the trauma of birth. Education is therefore not about learning but recollection . In the Meno he gives the example of a slave boy who seemed to have innate knowledge of mathematical proofs. However, it could be argued that the slave boy was just a mathematics prodigy. And Plato’s philosophy is vulnerable here to the problem of interaction that can also be used to criticise the substance dualism of the later philosopher Descartes : if what I am is something non-physical, how can what is non-physical make my body do anything?
The philosopher Aristotle also came up with his Third Man argument to object to the existence of the world of the forms . He argued that for the form of man to have any content, it would have to be based on a higher form of man, and this too would have to based on a higher form, and so on ad infinitum .
Aristotle was also a dualist. He believed in the soul but thought that it was the animating principle of the body. The soul imprints itself on matter in the same way that a seal imprints itself on wax .
He also thought that the soul was not something exclusively human: all living things have one. Plants, for example, have a nutritive and reproductive soul while animals have a sensitive soul. Humans have these souls as well as a rational soul that allows them to think and reason. But in higher life forms these souls are not separate. There is only one soul in each creature but the qualities of the lower types of soul are incorporated into the higher.
Because Aristotle did not believe in the world of the forms he comes very close to the philosophy of materialism which maintains that there is no soul and that we are essentially something physical : our bodies. This is a view maintained by the modern philosopher Richard Dawkins . However, Aristotle did believe that a part of us may survive death. He used the Greek term nous to describe this but it seems to just refer to pure intellect and is not something personal. In other words, we do not experience life after death as ‘me’.
Match the philosopher on the left to the views on the right
Descartes argued that we are all non-physical spiritual substances encased in a body.
Plato believed that evidence for the soul is provided by our recollection of mathematical truths that have not been taught to us.
Dawkins argues that we are just genetically driven ‘survival
machines’.
St Paul stated that after death we acquire a ‘spiritual body’ which is an improvement on our physical body
H.H. Price claimed that a disembodied existence in which we
communicate telepathically was a logical
possibility.
Ryle claimed that when we treat the ‘mind’ or soul as an object which is separate from our behaviours that we are guilty of a ‘category error’.
Hick considers the idea that God might create a perfect replica of us in a resurrection world to be both logically possible and coherent.
Aristotle Maintained that the soul is not immortal but impersonal intellect (nous) is.
Reincarnation and the Problem of Evil
Fill in the blanks. NOTE: some words are used more than once.
Both Hindus and Buddhists believe in the law of karma , according to which the suffering we experience in our present life is because of our behaviour in a previous one. Hindus additionally believe that we possess a soul or atman
which continually transmigrates until we achieve moksha (release from the cycle of rebirth), following which we realise our identity with Brahman (the One, eternal reality which we are all part of). As we do not usually perceive that we are part of an eternal unchanging reality, suffering in life also arises from maya (or illusion) because it seems to us that death is real and we fear it.
Buddhists, however, are atheists and so there is no problem of evil in Buddhism. For them, dukkha or suffering is just a natural feature of the universe. They also believe that good and bad karma arises from our intentions rather than our actions.
Both Hindus and Buddhists believe that living an ethical life and practising lots of meditation frees us from the round of rebirth. However, Buddhism does not teach that we become one with Brahman. Instead, all Buddhists are concerned with is putting a stop to suffering, and when this happens we achieve a state called Nirvana . Buddhists also do not believe in the Hindu atman or soul. Instead, the Buddhist teaching of anatta or ‘no-self’ maintains that because we are part of an ever-changing reality with no beginning or end, nothing about us is permanent.
A possible strength of the Buddhist and Hindu teaching about evil is that both of these faiths take into account the suffering of animals and we are encouraged not to harm them. This is a type of suffering that is arguably neglected in both the Irenaean and Augustinian theodicies.
However, as animals are something we all might have been in our past lives, there is a problem with the law of karma as it could be argued that animals act instinctively. It therefore seems strange to think of them as being somehow morally accountable for their actions.
Also, Ockham’s razor suggests that there is a much simpler explanation as to why good and bad things happen to us: chance or coincidence.
Other problems to do with reincarnation as an explanation for both evil and what we are like in the next world have been identified by Hick. Firstly, it has been argued that memories and personality traits are insufficient as a way of establishing that Person x was person y in a previous life. First of all, memories are shared. They are not limited to one person. And personality traits are too general and also shared by far too many people. Finally, the explanation for why we suffer seems endlessly deferred because it is always explained in terms of a previous life, or the one before that, and so on. And if there was a very first incarnation when we make our debut in the cycle of rebirth, then we might be entitled to an explanation for any suffering we experience in that first life and the law of karma does not seem capable of supplying it.
Apart from philosophical problems with the idea of reincarnation, there are issues with the evidence for it too. For example, the researcher Ian Stevenson has investigated many cases of child past lives and drawn the conclusion that reincarnation is the best explanation for them. However, Hick has criticised these case studies and has pointed out that they tend to occur in cultures where belief in reincarnation is already widespread. They could, therefore be pseudo-memories.