Chapter 4
History and Philosophy
The checklists in the History and Philosophy section are highly selective but broadly based. You’ll be asked to identify events from the founding of this country to the greatest wars, and philosophers from Socrates to the existentialists.
Give yourself one point if you correctly identify all the elements in a checklist or answer the question. At the end of the section you’ll have the opportunity to rate how intellectual you are on these subjects.
CHANGING OF THE GUARDS
The decline of the Roman Empire in A.D. 476 signaled the start of the Middle Ages. Are you familiar with these facts?
* Christianity dominated European civilization and thinking at this time
* There was little tolerance for the skeptical philosophies of the Greeks
* St. Augustine (early fifth century) was the first significant Christian philosopher
* He reasoned that understanding followed from faith
* Augustine also believed that the universe was ordered by a single spiritual entity
POINTS
MIDDLE-AGED THINKING
Learning and literacy advanced slowly for the next thousand years with a few notable events. Are you familiar with these?
* Learning was centered in the church and the clergy
* Scholasticism, a school of Christian thought that attempts to resolve questions of faith and reason, came into being around the year 1100
* The University of Oxford was founded in the early twelfth century
* St. Thomas Aquinas wrote a complete Christian theology
* He used Aristotelian principles to construct five arguments proving God’s existence
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A RENAISSANCE IN PHILOSOPHY
Do you know these events that distinguished Renaissance thinking?
* The influence of Christian philosophy waned as printed texts became available
* Protestant reformers further diminished the church’s power in the sixteenth century
* In the seventeenth century, Sir Francis Bacon espoused empiricism
* Empiricism, stressing experience and observation, paved the way for scientific methods
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COMBINED POINTS
SEEING IS BELIEVING
Which of these important historical sites have you visited?
* Bunker Hill, Boston
* Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
* Arlington Cemetery
* Mount Vernon
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BEFORE SOCRATES
As early as the seventh century B.C., Greeks had the leisure and willingness to consider the meaning of their existence. Are you aware of these early thinkers?
* Thales tried to provide rational explanations for natural phenomena
* Anaximander was a student of Thales but believed the universe’s source was not matter
* Anaximenes believed that air was the primordial element
* All three explained the universe through what kind of causes?
ANSWER: These three thinkers posited natural rather than divine causes to explain the universe
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THE START OF SOMETHING BIG
The Renaissance came about due in large part to three inventions. Do you know what they are?
* Gunpowder—brought the destruction of the feudal order
* Block printing from movable type—propagated knowledge and secularized learning
* The compass—increased the safety of sea voyages that opened up the Western Hemisphere
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COMBINED POINTS
AN IMPORTANT DOCUMENT
The Constitution forms our governmental structure and provides fundamental protections for U.S. citizens. Did you know:
* The Constitution required the addition of ten amendments prior to ratification
* The Constitution was not ratified until 1789
* Since that time, seventeen amendments have been added
* The fourteenth amendment protects rights by defining “due process of law”
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SOPHISTS’ CHOICE
The Sophists, or teachers, became active in Greece in the fifth century B.C. Did you know the following about this period?
* Expanding knowledge made it difficult for Greeks to keep up with developments
* Educating the young was compromised
* Sophists traveled between Greek cities and charged for their services
* They taught public speaking and argument to use in debate
* Their teaching contributed significantly to the development of oratory
POINTS
AN EARLY THEORY OF RELATIVITY
Protagoras was one of the first and most well known of the Sophists. Are you aware of his contributions?
* Protagoras taught as a Sophist for more than forty years, acquiring great wealth
* Plato named one of his dialogues after him
* Protagoras observed: “Man is the measure of all things” or truth is relative
* An agnostic, he was banished from Athens and his books were burned
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COMBINED POINTS
THE ROAD TO CIVIL WAR
The events leading to the American Civil War took place over centuries. How many of the following facts are you aware of?
* Twenty African men were brought to Jamestown, Virginia, as indentured servants in 1619
* Within fifty years, thousands of Africans had been sold as slaves in the American colonies
* By 1750, slavery was legal in all colonies
* Agricultural activities in the South became dependent on slave labor
* Labor-intensive crops such as cotton and tobacco were predominant
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SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES
How much of the history of slavery are you aware of?
* Until the early nineteenth century, slavery was legal in the North
* The North’s soil and climate would not support large plantations, however
* In July 1787, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance outlawing slavery in new states
* As a result, states in the Midwest did not allow slavery
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AMBIGUITY
The institution of slavery caused heated feelings on both sides of the issue. Did you know the following?
* Southern delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention wanted recognition of slavery
* Southern states threatened to withhold support of the Constitution if it contained antislavery measures
* Compromises permitted slaves to be counted for representation and taxation
* The Constitution also called for the return of escaped slaves
* However, a ban on the slave trade—within twenty years—was included
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COMBINED POINTS
MALICE TOWARD ALL
Tensions between advocates and opponents of slavery increased over time. Are you aware of the following events?
* In 1820, Congress argued over whether Missouri would be admitted as a slave state
* Speaker of the House Henry Clay, of Kentucky, worked out a compromise
* The Missouri Compromise admitted Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state
* Slavery was also banned in the remaining Louisiana Territory above a certain parallel
* Thomas Jefferson referred to the dispute as “the death knell of the Union”
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NO COMPROMISE
Drastic measures seemed inevitable as both sides became entrenched. Did you know the following?
* South Carolina politicians began talking about states’ rights in 1828
* Nat Turner led a slave revolt in Virginia in 1831
* The South’s dissent over tariffs was brought under control by President Jackson in 1832
* Southerners attempted to portray slavery as beneficial for the nearly 4 million slaves
* Northern abolitionists painted the institution as immoral
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CONSTRICTIONS ON WESTWARD EXPANSION
The issue of slavery dominated most events at this time. Were you aware of the following?
* The war with Mexico in 1846, fought over Texas, became tinged by slavery issues
* Some Northerners opposed the war, not wanting Texas to be admitted as a slave state
* A Pennsylvania congressman introduced the Wilmot Proviso in 1846
* The Wilmot Proviso would have banned slavery in the new territory, but was not passed
* Some northern Democrats left the party to form the Free Soil Party
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COMBINED POINTS
DESPERATE MEASURES
In an attempt to maintain Union stability, Congress passed the Compromise of 1850 . Its provisions included all but which of the following?
a. Admitted California to the Union as a free state
b. Allowed New Mexico and Utah to decide on slavery by popular vote
c. Banned the internal slave trade from Washington, D.C.
d. Established a special committee of senators to debate the issues
e. Enforced the Fugitive Slave Law, requiring all citizens to return escaped slaves
ANSWER: D
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THE FINAL HOURS
The decade before the Civil War was eventful. Do you know about the following events?
* Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) created an uproar
* Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) repealing the Missouri Compromise
* The act permitted the new territories to decide about slavery by popular vote
* The Supreme Court ruled against fugitive slave Dred Scott in 1857
* John Brown and militant abolitionists attacked a Virginia armory in 1859
* A new Republican Party was formed in opposition to slavery, led by
__________________
ANSWER: Abraham Lincoln
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READING MATTER
Can you match the authors with their books about the Civil War?
| A. Charles Royster | 1. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln |
| B. Doris Kearns Goodwin | 2. The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery |
| C. Eric Foner | 3.Race and Reunion: Abraham Lincoln and American Memeory |
| D. David W. Blight | 4. This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War |
| E. Drew Gilpin Faust | 5. The Destructive War: William Tecumseh Sherman, Stonewall Jackson, and the Americans |
ANSWER: A, 5; B, 1; C, 2; D, 3; E, 4
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COMBINED POINTS
SOCRATES
Socrates is considered the most important philosopher in the history of Western thought. Do you know this about him?
* We have none of his writings
* Socrates believed that ethics should be proven; truth is not relative
* He frequently debated his ideas in public places
* His pupil, Plato, wrote down his ideas in twenty-four dialogues
* Socrates took his own life by __________________
ANSWER: drinking hemlock
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PLATO
Plato was a pupil and disciple of Socrates. How many of these facts about Plato do you know?
* Plato was just twenty-nine when Socrates died
* His most influential works were dialogues featuring Socrates
* In Phaedo, he introduces the idea of “forms,” abstract ideas like beauty and justice
* Symposium discusses love of all kinds
* The Republic is his dialogue about a community based on justice
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ARISTOTLE
Aristotle was a pupil in Plato’s Academy for twenty years. Did you know this about him?
* He disagreed with Plato’s theory of forms as fixed and absolute
* He suggested that those concepts meant different things to different people
* Our word “peripatetic” derives from the Academy students’ habit of walking about
* His writings were lost and not studied in the West until the early Middle Ages
* Aristotle tutored Alexander the Great
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SETTING THE STAGE FOR WORLD WAR
The world was unstable at the beginning of the twentieth century and events were unfolding quickly . How many of the following events are you aware of?
* The Boer War (1899–1902) was an uprising in South Africa against British rule
* Japan revealed its imperialistic tendencies when it defeated Russia in a brief war in 1905
* Mounting tensions caused Britain to form an alliance with France and Russia—the Allies
* Germany aligned with Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire— the Central Powers
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THE WAR TO END ALL WARS
The assassination of the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary was the spark needed to bring Europe, Britain, and Russia into World War I. Can you pick out the facts from the list below?
A. In the East, the Central Powers devastated Russian forces in 1914
B. The Central Powers were able to advance and occupy Paris at the beginning of the war
C. Greater firepower was not matched by improvements in fighting strategy
D. The Russian Revolution of 1917 brought Lenin to power
E. Russia signed a truce with Germany and fighting increased in the West
ANSWER: Statements A, C, D, and E are true. B is not.
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A NEW HOPE
World War I might have ended differently if the United States had not gotten involved . Are you aware of these events?
* Attacks on American ships caused the United States to declare war on Germany in April 1917
* American troops landed in France in June 1917 and halted German offensives in 1918
* Allied forces, with American reinforcements, launched a major offensive in September 1918
* Germany saw the hopelessness of its efforts in the field and experienced unrest at home
* Germany asked for peace terms and an armistice was signed in
November 1918
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FORGIVENESS AND REVENGE
In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson attended a peace conference in Paris. Do you know these results of the First World War?
* Wilson wished to create a League of Nations
* He also wanted to forgive the Central Powers’s financial responsibility
* French and British leaders wanted to treat Germany as a conquered nation
* The Treaty of Versailles called for reparations, the returning of land, and demilitarization
* Humiliated Germans began to rally around Adolf Hitler, who called for vengeance
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A PERSONAL POINT OF VIEW
How many of the important sites of World War I have you seen in person?
* Verdun, France
* Canadian War Memorial at Vimy Ridge, France
* Thiepval Monument and Museum, Thiepval, France
* Museum of the Great War, PÉronne, France
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BETWEEN THE COVERS
Can you identify the authors of these books on World War I?
| A. The First World War | 1. Robert K. Massie |
| B. The First World War | 2. John Keegan |
| C. Europe’s Last Summer | 3. Hew Strachan |
| D. Dreadnought | 4. Barbara Wertheim Tuchman |
| E. The Guns of August | 5. David Fromkin |
ANSWER: A, 2; B, 3; C, 5; D, 1; E, 4
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COMBINED POINTS
SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT
Athens was the leading center of philosophic thought during the Hellenistic period (323–31 B.C.). Do you know what the famous schools of philosophy were at that time?
* Plato’s Academy was established in beginning of the fourth century b.c.
* Aristotle’s Peripatos was created in the second half of that century
* The Stoic school was started by Zeno of Citium (around 300 b.c.)
* The Kepos school was developed by Epicurus at about the same time
* The Skeptics were led by Pyrrho of Elis
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COMPETING VISIONS
Having invented the idea of philosophy, the Greeks put a lot of effort into it . Did you know the following?
* Our word “philosophy” comes from the Greek philosophos, “love of wisdom”
* The Skeptics questioned the basis of knowledge and denied its possibility
* The Epicureans believed only in the physical world and attempted to eliminate pain
* The Stoics tried to understand and live by the principles that control the world
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STEADFAST
Stoic thinking produced many lasting effects . How many of the following facts do you know?
* Stoic indifference showed an acceptance of the order of things
* Romans who adopted Stoicism included Seneca, Epictetus, and Emperor Marcus Aurelius
* Stoicism was the source for the belief in the fundamental equality of all people
* Stoics also believed in natural rights for people
* Stoics admired Socrates for his steadfast belief in universal principles
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COMBINED POINTS
A FAILED VISION
Less than twenty years separated two world wars . How many of these events leading up to World War II are you aware of?
* The League of Nations was created but the U.S. Senate refused to ratify the treaty
* Germany was crushed by economic depression and political upheaval in the 1920s
* Hitler formed the Nazi party and became chancellor in 1933 to restore German dignity
* In Italy, Benito Mussolini established a totalitarian state
* Japan became a military power and invaded China in 1937
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THE SECOND COMING
Germany’s desire to avenge itself was ignored until it was too late . Did you know these facts about World War II?
* Hitler rebuilt Germany’s armed forces and invaded Austria in 1938
* Britain and France capitulated to Germany’s demand to annex Czechoslovakia
* At home, Hitler instituted policies that led to the Holocaust, which resulted in the death of 6 million Jews
* In 1939, Germany invaded Poland, and Britain and France declared war
* France fell and Hitler controlled most of Europe by __________________
* Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941 in violation of their secret pact
* America remained neutral, although it supplied arms to Britain’s war with Germany
ANSWER: June 1939
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OFF TO WAR
Once again the United States had to respond to military aggression . Were you aware of the following?
* America criticized Japan’s aggressive behavior; Japan attacked the United States in 1941
* America declared war on Japan; Japan’s allies Germany and Italy declared war on the United States
* Though concentrating efforts in Europe, America scored big victories against Japan
* Germany suffered a big defeat against the Soviet Union in 1943
* June 1944 saw the Allied landing and another year of fighting before victory in Europe
* The atomic bombing of two Japanese cities forced Japan to surrender in August 1945
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COMBINED POINTS
LESSONS LEARNED
Between 60 and 70 million people, mostly civilians, died in World War II . Are you aware of these other consequences of the war?
* Nearly 300,000 American servicemen were killed in the war
* There were an estimated 21 million war refugees in Europe
* Fifty-one nations, including the United States, were inspired to found the United Nations
* The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union started over disagreement about occupation of Eastern Europe
* Mistrust grew from perceived threats of atomic power
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HALLOWED GROUND
How many of these World War II memorials have you visited?
* USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
* Hiroshima Peace Park, Hiroshima, Japan
* Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Normandy, France
* Volgograd State Panoramic Museum (Battle of Stalingrad), Volgo-grad, Russia
* Auschwitz Museum and Memorial, Oswiecim, Poland
* United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.
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GETTING A PERSPECTIVE
How many of these World War II histories have you read?
* Crusade in Europe by Dwight Eisenhower
* A World at Arms by Gerhard Weinberg
* Why the Allies Won by Richard Overy
* The Second World War by John Keegan
* The Origins of the Second World War by A. J. P. Taylor
* The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer
* Hitler: A Study in Tyranny by Alan Bullock
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COMBINED POINTS
THE ANCHORS OF BELIEF
Do you know the following about the thinking of Confucius?
* Confucius sought to understand the present by concentrating on the past
* He believed that living a ritualized life would give the past meaning
* His love of the past came from his desire to understand the longevity of certain institutions
* Reverence for ancestors and mourning ceremonies, for example, had lasted for centuries
* Confucius thought of himself as a conservationist of cultural values and social norms
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FIVE CORE IDEAS
Confucianism is a way of thinking and living that the Chinese people have followed for more than 2,000 years . Can you match the core ideas of Confucianism with their names?
| A. ren | 1. reciprocity |
| B. li | 2. humaneness or benevolence |
| C. zhong | 3. ritual norms |
| D. shu | 4. filial piety |
| E. xiao | 5. loyalty to one’s true nature |
ANSWER: A, 2; B, 3; C, 5; D, 1; E, 4
POINTS
THE GREAT MASTER K’UNG
Confucius was the best known and most influential thinker in Chinese history . Do you know these facts about Confucius?
* Confucius was born in 551 B.C.
* He served in minor government positions before starting his teaching career in his thirties
* He is known as the first teacher in China who wanted to make education widely available
* He was also one of the first to establish teaching as a vocation
* When he died in 479 b.c., how many people claimed to be his followers? (A) 100, (B) 1,000, (C) 3,000, or (D) 10,000
ANSWER: C
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COMBINED POINTS
GREAT BEGINNINGS
Mencius was a contemporary of Plato and interpreter of Confucius . Do you know his four beginnings of human nature?
* The feeling of commiseration is the beginning of humanity
* The feeling of shame and dislike is the beginning of righteousness
* The feeling of deference and compliance is the beginning of propriety
* The feeling of right or wrong is the beginning of wisdom
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BRINKSMANSHIP
The Cold War shaped the American worldview for forty years. Do you know these facts about the beginning of this period?
* The term “Cold War” was coined by the author George Orwell in 1945
* Winston Churchill first used the term “Iron Curtain” to describe the Western/Soviet divide
* Both Korea and Germany (and Berlin) were divided into democratic and communist zones
* The Truman Doctrine, a policy opposing the spread of communism, was announced in 1947
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RAMPING UP
Opposition and Cold War tensions increased quickly. Are you aware of these developments?
* The Soviets created a blockade around Berlin in 1948, which was overcome by an airlift
* The United States entered into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with its European allies in 1949
* The Soviet bloc responded to the anti-Soviet NATO in 1955 with the Warsaw Pact
* The Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb in 1949
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COMBINED POINTS
THE CHINA SYNDROME
Communism was growing in eastern Asia in the middle of the twentieth century . Did you know the following?
* Chinese communists led by Mao Zedong drove out the pro-West nationalists in 1949
* The Soviet-backed communist government of North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950
* American-led U.N forces came to the aid of South Korea
* The Korean War lasted until 1953, ending without a clear outcome
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COMMUNISTS EVERYWHERE
Cold War tensions created unease and fear in the American public. Do you know these manifestations of that fear?
* In 1952, Republicans were able to win the White House for the first time since 1928
* Dwight Eisenhower, a war hero, was elected president
* Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy became America’s leading anti-communist
* McCarthy claimed to have knowledge of Soviet agents and made vigorous accusations
* His influence faded in 1953 when he claimed the U.S. Army was harboring communists
POINTS
MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION
The Cold War resulted in an arms race between the West and the Soviet Union, which in turn increased tensions . Are you aware of these events?
* In 1961, East Germany started construction of the Berlin Wall to stop defections
* In 1962, the Soviet Union began to secretly install missiles in Cuba
* The resulting Cuban Missile Crisis brought the two powers to the brink of war
* A U.S. naval blockade of Cuba brought about the withdrawal of the missiles
* The two powers signed a treaty in 1963 banning aboveground testing of nuclear weapons
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COMBINED POINTS
MAINTAINING A BALANCE
Relations between East and West were complicated as well as tense through the 1970s . Did you know the following?
* Soviets sent troops to protect their interests in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Afghanistan
* The United States helped overthrow a leftist government in Guatemala and supported the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion into Cuba
* The Vietnam War was a costly and unsuccessful attempt to halt communism’s spread
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DESCARTES
René Descartes was the dominant thinker in the last half of the seventeenth century. Do you know the following about him?
* Descartes combined classical thinking with the scientific outlook of his age
* He is considered the precursor to the modern spirit of philosophy
* In Principles of Philosophy (1644) he defined philosophy as “the study of wisdom”
* Descartes was a mathematician and scientist and based his ideas on certainty
* “I think, therefore I am” was his conclusion
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HOBBES WITHOUT CALVIN
Thomas Hobbes was a seventeenth-century English scholar deeply interested in government . How many of the following facts do you know about him?
* Hobbes knew both Francis Bacon and Galileo
* He had a strong interest in the philosophical method as well as matter in motion
* He traveled extensively, researching the functioning of government
* He advanced the idea of a “social contract” between rulers and the ruled
* Hobbes felt people were wicked and that life was “nasty, brutish, and short”
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COMBINED POINTS
ENLIGHTEN ME
The intellectual movement in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is referred to as the Enlightenment. Did you know the following?
* Thought centered on political philosophy, the role of government, and people
* John Locke developed modern ideas of identity and self—that we are born without innate ideas
* Locke also advanced the concept of “government with the consent of the governed”
* The first encyclopedia based on rational values of the Enlightenment was published
* The French crown attempted to censor its liberal ideas and criticisms of government
* Voltaire observed: “If God did not exist, he would have to be invented”
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ENLIGHTENED THINKER
Jean-Jacques Rousseau contributed significantly to the Enlightenment . How many of the following facts are you aware?
* Rousseau was brilliant but extremely paranoid and mentally unbalanced
* He believed humans were born innocent in contradiction to the Christian belief of original sin
* His The Social Contract (1762) claims freedom is the ultimate goal of society
* Rousseau’s ideas about education in his novel Emile (1762) are still influential
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ENLIGHTENED THINKER TOO
Immanuel Kant was one of the Enlightenment’s foremost thinkers . Did you know:
* Kant published Critique of Pure Reason in 1781
* He argued that certain ideas (God, freedom) could be believed but not experienced
* He believed that the individual could find freedom in living by universal moral principles
* His moral philosophy influenced such intellectuals as Nietzsche and Freud
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COMBINED POINTS
HONORING THE FALLEN
How many of these national war memorials have you visited in person?
* World War I Memorial
* National World War II Memorial
* Korean War Veterans Memorial
* Vietnam Veterans Memorial
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RECITE YOUR RHETORIC
From which of these famous American speeches can you quote, verbatim:
* Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
* JFK’s inaugural address
* FDR’s Pearl Harbor address to the nation
* Emerson’s “The American Scholar” speech
* Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s last speech
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A BUSY TIME
Philosophy in the nineteenth century was affected by major changes . Which of the following was not a factor?
A. The Romantic Movement was a literary revolt against reason
B. The Industrial Revolution prompted calls for social reform
C. The American Civil War caused philosophers to question race identity
D. Revolutions in Europe in mid-century sparked class consciousness
E. Darwin’s work in evolution increased biological science knowledge
ANSWER: C
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NOT JUST GOOD, IDEAL
The first part of the nineteenth century was dominated by the German philosophy of absolute idealism . Do you know its proponents and concepts?
* Idealism was influenced by Romanticism and by a new alliance with religion
* It was based on understanding of the self and the spiritual world
* Johann Fichte wrote that the moral will is the chief characteristic of the self
* Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel believed that reason changes and has a cultural dimension
* Hegel said that struggle is the essence of spiritual existence
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A BETTER IDEA
In the middle of the nineteenth century, new thinkers came to prominence and new philosophies arose. Did you know that:
* In France, Auguste Comte published his antireligious philosophy of positivism
* Positivism accepted only knowledge derived through accepted scientific methods
* In England, John Stuart Mill released A System of Logic
* Mill espoused scientific principles and advocated political liberalism
* The German Karl Marx published The Communist Manifesto in 1848
* Marx exposed the struggle of the worker and advocated violent overthrow of the social order
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GOING FROM BAD TO WORSE
Do you know these nineteenth-century irrationalist philosophers?
* Søren Kierkegaard preached concrete action and emotion as opposed to mere thought
* Arthur Schopenhauer said that science could not penetrate the real world
* Friedrich Nietzsche felt the philosopher should destroy old values and create new ideals
* These three philosophers viewed the human mind as dark and obscure
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PHILOSOPHY TODAY
Philosophy in the twentieth century has become a profession. Are you aware that:
* Most philosophers today are part of academia
* Philosophers deal with specialized issues and employ a technical nomenclature
* Schools of thought are distinctly defined and the nature of philosophy is contested
* English-speaking philosophers tend toward logical analysis
* European philosophers follow a speculative and historical tradition
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LET’S THINK ABOUT THIS
In keeping with their professionalism, twentieth-century philosophers developed an analytic method . Did you know the following?
* Analytic philosophy approaches problems by first clarifying the issue
* Practitioners have created symbolic language and examined speech to help achieve clarity
* The creation of symbolic logic provided formal techniques for some philosophers
* Much of the century’s analysis was focused on meaning and reference in language
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GETTING SMALL
The mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell developed the theory of logical atomism at the beginning of the twentieth century. Do you know these facts about it?
* Mathematical logic could reveal the basic structure of reality hidden in language
* The world is made up of simple, or “atomic” facts, which are made of objects
* These atomic facts are mind-independent features of reality
* Propositions of logic refer to atomic facts
* There is a connection between languages and the structure of the real world
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EXISTENTIALISM
Existentialism was a twentieth-century philosophy that approached mainstream acceptance . Did you know the following?
* The German Karl Jaspers was an existentialist philosopher
* Jaspers believed that an individual realizes his humanity by confronting extremes
* The French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre is the best-known existentialist
* Sartre believed that the essence of “being” could be found in liberty
* He felt that a person should overcome limitations through acts of conscious decision
* His companion Simone de Beauvoir expressed existential thought in feminist terms
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SCORING YOURSELF: HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY
Based on your responses to the checklists in the preceding section, use the rating system below to determine how you stand as an intellectual in the fields of history and philosophy.
0–15: It’s apparent that you see little value in history.
16–30: You have enough knowledge of history and philosophy to safely appear in public.
31–45: Your knowledge is commendable.
46–61: You have a comprehensive understanding of history and philosophy.