Humanities Homework
Study Guide
For the third exam you should be able to answer ALL of the following.
• Reading questions on Lahiri. (10 points) These are questions to determine whether or not you read the stories. They will cover material not discussed in class.
• Be able to identify (from photos) all the key buildings designed by Gehry (and covered in the film), to explain the principles governing each building/project, and to explain how the particular buildings fit into his over all philosophy of building.
• Be able to explain and compare the principles that govern the work of Frank Gehry and Richard Meier (as presented in class).
• Be able to explain the historical background to the story, “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine.”
• Be able to explain how Lahiri’s stories depict marriage. • Explain the role of the “journey” and “distance” in “The Third and Final
Continent.” • Be able to discuss the characters, themes, and “situations” of all the Lahiri
stories. • Be able to answer ALL of the following questions about Plato, Nietzsche, and
Crimes and Misdemeanors. o What is wrong with the definition, “pious is what I’m doing,
prosecuting the wrongdoer.” o What is wrong with the definition, “pious is that which is loved by the
gods.” o What is wrong with the definition, “pious is that which is loved by ALL
the gods.” o What does the Euthyphro suggest about the relationship between
piety, justice, and ethics? o What does the Euthyphro suggest about the relationship between
god/the gods and morality? How does the text present this problem? o Be able to explain, in detail, and using the correct Greek terms, the
Socratic method as it is presented in the Meno (both in the dialogue between Socrates and Meno and in the geometry lesson).
o Explain the relationship between the positions on values and truth represented by the following characters in the Meno: Anytas, Socrates, Gorgias.
o Explain the “theory of the Forms” as it is represented in the Phaedo. o Explain how and why Socrates understands the relationship between
the philosopher and death in the Phaedo. o What is the relationship between knowledge and the senses in the
Phaedo. o Be able to explain all four of the arguments for the immortality of the
soul presented in the Phaedo. o What is the “dogmatist error,” according to Nietzsche?
o Explain Nietzsche’s critique of Plato. o Explain Nietzsche’s critique of the Stoics. o Explain Nietzsche’s critique of Descartes (and the Cartesian subject). o According to Nietzsche what is wrong with the idea of “immediate
certainties,” “absolute knowledge,” and “the thing in itself?” o Explain Nietzsche’s critique of Kant’s Categorical Imperative. o Explain, in detail, how Nietzsche historicizes morality, both in his
understanding of the pre-‐moral, moral, and extra-‐moral periods of history, and in his analysis of the master and slave moralities.
o Explain Nietzsche’s understanding of master and slave morality. o Explain some of the most important ideas in Beyond Good and Evil
regarding the revaluation of values. o What does Nietzsche mean by his use of the term “the herd?” o Explain Nietzsche’s critique of the role of language and grammar in
the emergence of philosophical ideas. o What is the relationship between metaphysical speculations and
moral values, according to Nietzsche. o What does Nietzsche mean when he says that “the falseness of a
judgment is for us not necessarily an objection to a judgment?” o What will make Nietzsche’s free spirits and “coming philosophers”
different from the thinkers of previous eras? o Be able to list and explain at least five understandings of morality
articulated in Crimes and Misdemeanors. o Be able to explain my reading of the film as endorsing Aunt May’s
position. (Explain, in detail, the two arguments I presented. Make sure you understand how they support my interpretation.)
o What is the Ubermensch, according to Conard and Felder? Why is Bart Simpson not a good example of this figure, but Carrie Bradshaw might be?
o Explain, in detail, BGE 282. o Explain, in detail, BGE 43. o Explain, in detail, what, according to Nietzsche, counts for being
“noble” today. o Explain why Nietzsche says that one has not observed life well if one
has not seen the hand that, with kindness, kills. o Be able to explain the argument in BGE 2. o What does Nietzsche mean by his distinction between the “real and
apparent” worlds?