Intro to Theory Pop Quiz

Who said the following: "For, as I take it, to lie is to affirm that to be true which is false.... But the poet, as I said before, never affirmeth."

• Socrates

• Aristotle

• Sir Phillip Sidney

• Adeimantus

Which of the following is not a fault that Plato finds in poetry?

• Poetry tells false stories about the gods;

• Poetry appeals to the lower, irrational part of the soul;

• Poetry is addictive and leads individuals to spend their money unwisely;

• Poetry is three times removed from the truth.

Aristotle argues that…

• Poetry is a less philosophical than history, because it deals with imaginary people;

• Poetry is more philosophical than history because it describes the lives and thought of famous Greek philosophers;

• Poetry is more philosophical than history because it is not bound to particular events and explore many possible circumstances and lives;

• Poetry and history are equally philosophical, because they are both concerned with universal ideas and attitudes.

A metaphysical theory is a one that…

• Sets out to explain the nature of physical things;

• Sets out to explain the nature of non-physical things;

• 1. Sets out to explain the true nature of reality;

• Sets out to explain the nature of metaphors.

What is the meaning of telos?

• Purpose or aim

• A property exclusive to trees and other organic things

• Cause or trigger

• The opposite of chaos.

The Guardians are..

• The first proper literary critics

• The men who stood guard atop the walls of Athens

• The name of a group of Greek superheroes

• The leaders and protectors of the ideal city-state

According to Aristotle's literary theory, fiction...

• Can either be true or false

• Is true if it accurately describes the subjective thoughts and feelings of the author

• Is a category of discourse that is neither true nor false

• Is true if it accurately describes objective reality

Aristotle thinks that we should…

• Judge poetic statements in the same way we judge the statements made by politicians or journalists

• Subject poetic statements to more rigorous examination than we do statements made by politicians and journalists, so as to check whether a poet is lying to us;

• Give poetic statements close and systematic attention, but on the basis of norms and standards that are special to art;

• We should not pay poetic statements any kind of serious attention because it is a frivolous form of discourse (in contrast with political, scientific or philosophical discourse).

According to Plato, constant change is the mark of…

• The intelligible world;

• The Forms;

• The sensible world;

• The human mind.

What is the human ideal that Plato's Republic promotes in the Republic?

• The warrior ethos;

• The life of the mind;

• A conservative ethos that teaches respect for tradition and the past;

• An empathetic ideal that prizes sensitivity to others and tolerance for different opinions.