AP European History

2010 Summer Reading Assignment: Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder

But if life itself is good and pleasant (...) and if one who sees is conscious that he sees,
one who hears that he hears, one who walks that he walks and similarly for all the other
human activities there is a faculty that is conscious of their exercise, so that whenever we
perceive, we are conscious that we perceive, and whenever we think, we are conscious
that we think, and to be conscious that we are perceiving or thinking is to be conscious
that we exist...
- Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics

Welcome to Sophie’s World, a novel about the history of philosophy. This novel, an
intriguing story about a fifteen-year-old Norwegian girl who learns philosophy from a
mysterious, initially anonymous tutor, will cause you to ponder the most significant ideas
of western civilization. It is an appropriate introduction to the course on at least two
levels: 1) intellectual history is one of the six central themes in European history that we
will trace throughout the modern world next year, and 2) it is a demanding book that will
require hours to digest and understand. It may even require rereading. Yet it is a
rewarding book that should leave you much more aware of the complexity of thought
itself and the interplay between ideas and historical contexts.

Please treat the book you have received with care and do not mark it up in any way. If
you have questions while you are reading or want to discuss some of the ideas you
encounter, sign on to Blackboard and post a comment/question.

Assignments due on the first day of school:

1. Read the entire book and take notes or respond to the questions provided
• Take notes using a consistent format of your own choosing, OR
• Respond to all 90 of the questions provided in this packet on separate
sheets of paper. These questions were furnished by Jay Harmon.

2: Create a package to “mail” to the class. The contents of this package

should help to clarify the main ideas of the philosopher assigned to you. It
can include artifacts (“found objects” like a “magic eight ball”), quotes,
costumes, etc. Your creativity and the size of your package need be the only
limiting factors. You can also choose to wrap the package with materials that
reveal the identity of the thinker profiled inside or use the standard protocol of
brown paper and an address label. Your chapter will be determined once
class rosters have been generated, so check Blackboard
(http://bb.accelerateu.org) after August 5 for your assignment.
Questions or Concerns:
I will be available for questions during much of July and again in late August. You are
welcome to contact me by email (twitmer@livoniacsd.org) or by posting a question or
comment on Blackboard. If you do not already have a Blackboard account, please see
me before the end of the year to set up an account. I will be away from June 11 through
June 19 for AP European Exam grading in Colorado.

Enjoy your summer and have fun reading and pondering philosophy!!

Optional Questions – Complete sentences encouraged.

1. Who are YOU?

Chapter 2
2. What is the origin of philosophy?
3. What was Sophie's mother's reaction to Sophie's questions/comments after she
began receiving the packages?
4. What might philosophers and small children have in common?

Chapter 3
5. After reading about the shift from a mythological to a natural view of philosophy,
what class in school did Sophie especially want to forget?

Chapter 4
6. What is the point of seeing what each philosopher's project is?
7. Define rationalism.
8. What does this mean: "we cannot step twice into the same river."?

Chapter 5
9. Why is Lego the most ingenious toy in the world? Do you have any history with
Lego?

Chapter 6
10. Define fatalism.
11. What was the famous inscription at Delphi ("DEL-fee")?
12. Who were the best-know Greek historians?
13. Does anything about the Hippocratic Oath stand out to you?
14. Who are you…now?
Socrates
15. When did Sophie ever REALLY learn something?
16. How did Socrates represent a new era in philosophy?
17. What must be in place in order for democracy to work?
18. Compare Jesus and Socrates.
19. What one thing did Socrates know?

Athens
20. List 5 terms in this chapter that are of Greek origin.

Plato
21. What were the problems Plato was concerned with?
22. How did he differ from Socrates?
23. What did Plato believe about all natural phenomena?

The Major's Cabin

24. What happened when Sophie looked into the mirror?

Aristotle
25. What did Aristotle say were the three forms of happiness?
26. What is on your list of 3 forms of happiness?
27. How did Aristotle differ from Plato?

Hellenism
28. Define Hellenism.
29. Interpret this statement: "Rome conquered Greece, but Greece captured
Rome."
30. Compare and contrast the views of the Cynics, the Stoics and the Epicureans. Which
view do you favor most? Why?
31. Contrast western and eastern mysticism.

Two Cultures
32. How did Paul show the Greek and Roman world a new approach to religion?
33. "Goethe" is pronounced "GER-ta" (hard "G" sound). Anyway, what is the
only way to become a human being-according to Alberto Knox?

The Middle Ages

34. How was the church Sophie entered symbolic of the spirit of the Middle
Ages?
35. How did the Greco-Roman culture divide, yet survive?
36. What did St. Thomas Aquinas synthesize? How?

The Renaissance
37. Discuss two ways Sophie & Hilde are like the Renaissance.
38. Above all else, the Renaissance resulted in___________________.
39. Who said, "Knowledge is power" and what is that statement's
significance to history?
40. What was positively the most important scientific discovery and why?
41. Newton explained and combined the theories and discoveries of what 3
earlier scientists?
42. How were Martin Luther's teachings similar in spirit with those of the
Renaissance philosophers?

The Baroque
43. List political and religious elements of the Baroque era.

Descartes
44. What was Descartes most famous proclamation?
45. Using Descartes' reasoning as a platform, describe how we are and how
we are NOT biological robots.

Spinoza
46. Spinoza said our temporary emotions keep us from happiness, therefore
should see everything from the perspective of_______ for true contentment.

Locke
47. What was Locke's belief in the concept tabula rasa?
48. What is the concept "natural rights"?

Hume
49. Which Asian philosopher pre-dated many of Hume's beliefs & how?
50. One of the main concerns of philosophy is to warn people
against_________.
51. If you don't know the definition already, look up "Utilitarianism" and
define it in your own words.

Berkeley
52. According to Berkeley Where do we exist? : "only in __________"
53. In what ways is this chapter the turning point of this book?

Bjerkely
54. In what ways is THIS chapter the turning point of this book?
55 .Cite 2 examples of Hilde's how life is reflected in Sophie's. (Or is that the other way
around?)

The Enlightenment
56. What was one of Hilde's "enlightenments" regarding Sophie?
57. What is the significance of the change in font beginning in the last
chapter and continuing here?
58. In what do most of the Enlightenment philosophers had an unshakable faith?
59. To what historical event does the phrase "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" refer?

Kant
60. According to Kant, do space and time exist beyond ourselves? Explain.
61. Speculate: Why is Kant quoted on the wall in Mr. Witmer’s room?
62. How does Sophie receive hints in this chapter that she is not real?

Romanticism
63. Describe features of literature and philosophy that reflect
Romanticism.
64. How could the Romantics be compared to the hippies of the 1960's?
65. What is a "bagatelle" in context of this book?
66. What clever "major" revelations are made toward the end of this
chapter?

Hegel
67. To Hegel, history was like a _________________.
68. Where else in these questions have you seen a similar idea to question #70?
69. Who is "God" to Sophie and Alberto?
70. Who is "God" to Major Knag?

Kierkegaard
71. Compare (similarities) Kant and Kierkegaard in regard to the
importance of faith.
72. In what ways was Kierkegaard , take-no-prisoners type Christian?

Marx
73. How did Marx's words about the purpose of philosophy change history?
74. According to Marx, what 3 elements were the basis of society?
75. "The history of...societies is the history of ________________"
76. Marx was wrong. Agree with this statement, using examples.
77. Marx was right. Agree with this statement, using examples.

Darwin
78. How did Thomas Malthus' beliefs (what were they?) influence Darwin?
79. What are the religious/moral implications of the belief that humans are merely the
result of random chance and natural selection over time?
Freud
80. Explain the meaning of the term "Freudian slip".
81. How did Freud's teachings/beliefs influence the arts?

Our Own Time

82. "God is dead", said Nietzsche (NEE-chey, more or less). Contrast western philosophy
before and after the mid 1800's and argue that he is right, in that context.
83. Look up an encyclopedia biography of Simone de Beauvoir. What importance did she
play in the modern feminist movement?
84. Cite one example from anywhere in the book of philosophy influencing the beliefs of
society, and another example of the beliefs of society influencing philosophy.

The Garden Party

85. What in the world is the point of this chapter!? Well, I'll tell you: without any
structure or order in the universe (and society, for that matter) everything begins to fall
apart. Also--In the 20th c., philosophers (and society, for that matter) questioned the
validity of the "old order"—Don't answer these: Did that lead to the chaos and destruction
of the 2 world wars? Or did the chaos and destruction of the 20th century come from the
"old order" itself? Nobody knows for sure. So your guess is as good as any philosopher's.

Counterpoint
86. Cite an example from this chapter when Hilde turns the table on her father, by doing
to him what the major had done to Alberto and Sophie.

The Big Bang

87. What was your favorite chapter in this book? Why?
88. Who was your favorite philosopher in this book? Why?
89. Did you like this book? Why or why not?
90. For the last time, who are you? Has your answer changed since I
asked at the beginning of these questions? Why…or why not?