PHILOSOPHY ENCYCLOPEDIA

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Philosophy Practice Sheets

Work with examples, make your reasons visible, and compare your answer with an explanation. Try a worksheet before opening its solutions; use the print options for a class or study group.

What Does Aristotle Mean by a Mean Relative to Us?

A mean relative to us is the appropriate response in the circumstances, judged by reason. It is not always the numerical midpoint, not whatever an individual prefers and not a command to compromise between every pair of actions.

Hume's Missing Shade of Blue: What Exactly Is the Exception?

The exception is a very specific one: a person with extensive color experience might form the idea of a particular shade never previously seen. Hume is not imagining someone with no experience of color inventing it from nothing. The passage challenges an unrestricted claim that every simple idea must copy a corresponding prior impression.

Why Does Epicurus Say Death Is Nothing to Us? Read the Argument

Epicurus argues that being dead cannot be an evil for us because good and bad require awareness, and death ends awareness. The argument depends on that account of harm. Separate it from questions about the experience of dying, another person’s grief and the loss of a possible future.

Epicurus’s Three Kinds of Desire: Natural, Necessary and Empty

Epicurus first divides desires into natural and empty kinds, then divides natural desires into necessary and unnecessary kinds. A need with a point of satisfaction differs from an endless expectation of wealth or fame as a guarantee of security. To classify a case, examine what is wanted, why it is wanted and what would count as enough.

If Pleasure Is Good, Why Does Epicurus Reject Some Pleasures?

Pleasure can be good without making every pleasant action worth choosing. Epicurus asks what follows: an immediate pleasure may bring greater later annoyance, while a present difficulty may lead to a better result. A worked comparison shows why changed circumstances can change the choice.

Fate, Chance and Our Own Agency in Epicurus’s Letter to Menoeceus

Epicurus distinguishes necessity, chance and our own agency, then separates wisely judged action from a merely fortunate result. Read those claims in the letter before bringing in later discussions of the atomic swerve. An unpredictable event alone does not explain a person’s reasons or control.

What Is in Our Control? Read Epictetus’s Enchiridion 1 and 4

Epictetus separates our use of choice from external conditions and results. His bath example preserves two aims: carrying out the activity and responding appropriately when it is obstructed. Learn how that distinction keeps preparation meaningful without promising a guaranteed outcome.

Things or Judgments? Read Epictetus’s Enchiridion 5 and 20

Epictetus asks readers to examine the judgment added to an event and to pause before hasty assent. Read the distinction between an occurrence, its appearance and its evaluation, then assess the strong ethical claim without mistaking it for a denial of bodily injury.

Epictetus’s Actor Metaphor: Roles and Duties in Enchiridion 17 and 30

Epictetus’s actor metaphor separates receiving a role from performing it. His duties passage adds attention to relationships and care for others. Learn what these passages explain, and why a role label alone does not settle every conflict or justify ancient obedience as a universal modern rule.

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