1. Why is Socrates important in the history of philosophy? HINT: To answer this question well, you need to talk about open and closed concepts.

2. What is Socratic irony?

3. When Socrates says he is ignorant, what does he mean?

4. Why did the Oracle say Socrates was the wisest man in Athens?

5. Who were the Sophists?

6. What is the Socratic paradox?

7. In logic, a paradox is a self-contradictory claim, or, more broadly, a claim that on first glance you see as obviously false but after further reflection, you come to realize it may be true. Many philosophers love paradoxes. For more info and examples, see Mark Gribben's Paradox Page.

   Now that you know what a paradox is, I'd like you to think about why the Socratic paradox is called a paradox. What is it about the Socratic paradox that seems obviously false, but on reflection might be true? (HUGE HINT: Do you think wrong-doing is primarily a matter of ignorance? Many people would say wrong-doing is a matter of weakness of the will: they would say you can know perfectly well that something is bad, and will to do it anyway.)

8. Why was Socrates so interested in finding definitions of concepts like beauty, courage, and aretê?

Readings for Quiz 2

The reading assignments for this section are:

• DP Ch 1 "The Philosophy of Socrates" to end of Ch 1

• The following notes:

  Notes on Socrates