Western Culture Review: History of Western Thought Review by Ruth Anderson.

Western Culture

Review: History of Western Thought

Review by Ruth Anderson

Review

1) What are the two contrasting foundational principles of Western thought?

– Greek philosophy (search for truth)

– Jewish and Christian religions

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2) Ancient Greece was the Birthplace of ideas like what?

– Democracy– Geometry– Sickness having natural causes

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3) What lasting contribution did Socrates make to Western thinking?

– Critical Philosophy: being willing to call everything into question

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4) What lasting contribution did Plato make to Western thinking?

– He asked:

What is reality is made of?

and

How do we know what we know?

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5) What lasting contribution did Aristotle make to Western thinking?

– He created a system of deductive logic.

– He tried to explain why things happen the way they do, based on what we already know.

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6) What are three reasons ancient Greece was the source of so many ideas?

– The alphabet– Overseas trading– Decentralization

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7) What idea came out of the Jewish and Christian religions?

– Nature and human nature need to be controlled and subordinated

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8) How did Ancient Greek culture pursue truth?

– Through thinking and questioning

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9) How did Christian Religion pursue truth?

– Through faith in God

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10) What did the Romans want to do to the world?

– Make it Roman

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11) Who could use an area the Roman army had rebuilt?

– Everyone, whether Roman or not

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12) What contributions did the Romans make to Western Culture?

– political structure – concepts of legal administration – and the Catholic Church.

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13) What was one of the main points of the Magna Carta?

– The king had to obey the laws he created

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14) What was one result of the Black Death?

– It resulted in a labour shortage

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15) What is Humanism?

– A philosophy stressing the importance of humanity rather than the supernatural

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16) When did classical authority start to be questioned?

– During the Renaissance

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17) What can history be seen as?

– The story of conflict between interest groups

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18) What does Adam Smith’s theory of the "invisible hand" of the market say?

– That the pursuit of individual interest produces a collective good for society

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End of History of Western Thought

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