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Quiz about Piecemeal Medieval Philosophies

Piecemeal Medieval Philosophies Quiz

The spirit of the times during the Medieval era put into a small quiz.

A multiple-choice quiz by pilosopiya. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
pilosopiya

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
380,516

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
207

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Which of the following is NOT what Plotinus considered as the nature of the One (i.e 'God')? Hint

Utterly transcendental and absolute

Created the world out of his own divine volition

A necessary being who is goodness itself

All creation are emanations from the One

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Question 2 of 10

2. St. Augustine of Hippo contended that absolute truths (he uses examples such as mathematical truths, logical truths) are only comprehensible to men due to what? Hint

Man's rational faculties

God's divine illumination

Man's participation in divine ideas

Man's innate ideas of immutable truths

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Question 3 of 10

3. Dionysius the Areopagite or simply Pseudo-Dionysius was famous for introducing the notion of knowing God in two ways - but what are these 'two ways'? Hint

pure reason and practical reason

via Positiva and via Negativa

experience and reason

theology and philosophy

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Question 4 of 10

4. John Scotus Eriguena is a famous philosopher, especially since his name and portrait is found in a currency. He posited four divisions of Nature, but what did he mean by 'Nature'? Hint

All of the human sciences and arts

The totality of particulars

The sum of all universals

The totality of all things natural and supernatural

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Question 5 of 10

5. St. Anselm's ontological argument for the existence of God was different from St. Aquinas' cosmological argument in what way? Hint

Anselm's argument was a priori, Aquinas' argument was a posteriori.

The ontological argument was not intuitive, while the cosmological is.

The cosmological argument was dogmatic and the ontological wasn't.

Aquinas' argument was accepted by the church, Anselm's wasn't.

6. The problem of universals was a big controversy during the period of medieval philosophy, and indeed the problem still continues today. There were three main positions which sought their own solutions to the problem. These positions were ____? Hint

Ultra-Realism, Ultra-Nominalism and Conceptualism

Exaggerted Realism, Nominalism and Universalism

Moderate Realism, Nominalism and Idealism

Conceptualism, Ultra-Realism and Functionalism

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Question 7 of 10

7. St. Thomas Aquinas was very Aristotelian since he borrowed many of his ideas from Aristotle, and not Plato. But which of these is strictly his own philosophy and not Aristotle's? Hint

All corporeal things consist of matter and form

Happiness is found in pursuing the divine essence

Abstraction is a way men learn of universal ideas

The world consists of substances with accidents

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Question 8 of 10

8. Ancius Manlius Severinus Boethius, or more simply just Boethius, wrote down a famous book, what scholars call his magnum opus, titled what? Hint

De Rerum Natura

De Consolatione Philosophae

De Divisione Naturae

Summa Logicae

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Question 9 of 10

9. According to St. Augustine, what role did the Church exercise over the State? Hint

The Church should not permeate the State with her principles

The Church must be equal with the State

The Church will inform the State of celestial conduct from God

The Church ought to exercise no control over the State's civil rule

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Question 10 of 10

10. Theology and Philosophy are different disciplines, each respectful of the other. During the medieval period, however, Theology enjoyed primacy over every other discipline such that even philosophy was just ultimately a handmaiden to theology. Which of the following makes the case for this? Hint

Philosophy seeks an end superior to theology's.

Philosophy uses reason, theology does not.

Theology is capable of doing whatever philosophy does but may do more.

Theology is an exclusive discipline for church men.

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which of the following is NOT what Plotinus considered as the nature of the One (i.e 'God')?

Answer: Created the world out of his own divine volition

Plotinus posited that the One (God) did not suddenly 'decide' to create the world (the world as we know it) because He wanted to. Instead, he supposed that the world was a mechanical necessity of the One's sheer greatness, an overflow or an excess from the One, so to speak.

But of course, the creations are less perfect than the One Himself.

2. St. Augustine of Hippo contended that absolute truths (he uses examples such as mathematical truths, logical truths) are only comprehensible to men due to what?

Answer: God's divine illumination

Human reason, St. Augustine argued, is in fact imperfect, finite and subject to change. Eternal truths, on the other hand, are the exact opposite. How do you suppose men reach such truths, however evidently men speculate about such truths? St. Augustine answers that this could only have been possible due to God's grace (divine illumination) to allow men to ponder upon immutable ideas which lie in the divine Godhead.

3. Dionysius the Areopagite or simply Pseudo-Dionysius was famous for introducing the notion of knowing God in two ways - but what are these 'two ways'?

Answer: via Positiva and via Negativa

Pseudo-Dionysius supposed that God is known positively or negatively. The former is to establish what God is supposed to be, e.g. 'God is good', 'God is wise'. However, God would not properly be considered as being 'good' or 'wise', because God is admittedly super-good or super-wise, that is, beyond our understanding of what's good or wise. So he inclines towards the latter, which states that knowing God must be by removing predicates unsuitable to God e.g. 'God is not stupid', 'God is not evil'.

But if you think again, no predicate is suitable to God, for God is ultimately beyond our understanding (our understanding is dependent on the world, but God is beyond the world), hence it leads to mysticism about the nature of God.

4. John Scotus Eriguena is a famous philosopher, especially since his name and portrait is found in a currency. He posited four divisions of Nature, but what did he mean by 'Nature'?

Answer: The totality of all things natural and supernatural

Eriugena's conception of Nature is the totality of all things that are and are not, by which he means all things perceivable by the senses and which can be penetrated by the intellect, and those which cannot be perceived by the senses and things that the intellect cannot fully grasp. Essentially, the natural and the supernatural are included, and not just objects or ideas.

5. St. Anselm's ontological argument for the existence of God was different from St. Aquinas' cosmological argument in what way?

Answer: Anselm's argument was a priori, Aquinas' argument was a posteriori.

St. Anselm's ontological argument utilized pure reason, in the sense that unlike Aquinas' five proofs the ontological argument made no use of any observation about the world to infer God's existence instead using only intuitive notions or ideas.

Answer: Ultra-Realism, Ultra-Nominalism and Conceptualism

It was Realism which supposed that universals are real things, while it was Nominalism that supposed that universals are unreal and are just words. Conceptualism supposed that universals are words which refer to a real objective thing. (This is a condensed summary, of course).

Each position refutes the others.

7. St. Thomas Aquinas was very Aristotelian since he borrowed many of his ideas from Aristotle, and not Plato. But which of these is strictly his own philosophy and not Aristotle's?

Answer: Happiness is found in pursuing the divine essence

Unlike Aristotle, Aquinas posited that pursuing happiness necessarily meant trying to learn about God (divine essence). Nonetheless, Aquinas borrows from Aristotle in reference to the use of reason and the golden mean, for instance, in getting happiness. Aquinas posited that man's final ends or goal, contrary to Aristotle's assertion, was to find God, and this is true happiness.

8. Ancius Manlius Severinus Boethius, or more simply just Boethius, wrote down a famous book, what scholars call his magnum opus, titled what?

Answer: De Consolatione Philosophae

Boethius wrote "The Consolation of Philosophy" while he was imprisoned for the charges of treason. Boethius was generally a cool guy for having translated several ancient philosophical texts. I recommend you to read "The Consolation".

9. According to St. Augustine, what role did the Church exercise over the State?

Answer: The Church will inform the State of celestial conduct from God

St. Augustine used an analogy to this: The Church is likened to a heavenly city while the State was likened to an earthly city. He thought that the Church must have been superior to the State because the State, as he might have observed, was more prone to corruption since they operated without divine principles from God.

Answer: Theology is capable of doing whatever philosophy does but may do more.

Nowadays theology is a philosophy, a special branch of metaphysics if you like. However during the medieval period, theologian-philosophers would make the case that theology does in fact do whatever philosophy does but moreover theology gears for ends that philosophy does not endeavor immediately, i.e. the salvation of man, the contemplation of God etc. Whereas theology starts off with these as its premises, philosophy tries to reach those as its conclusions.

Source: Author pilosopiya

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