Phil 325 – Philosophies of Love and Sex
Fall 2019
Prof. Shlomo Sher
Midterm Questions Study Guide
The exam is worth 200 points (20% of your grade)
Exam format:
Part 1: 16 Multiple choice questions about these topics
Part 2: 3 short essay questions about these topics
Good luck!
Theories and concepts you need to know:
1. What Socrates thinks we look for in love,
why, and how he suggests we find it.
2. Aristotle’s advice about how we can get
phronesis (practical wisdom) and the
virtues)
3. What Aristotle believes a good life is and
what that has to do with friendship
4. Aristotle’s view of what friendship
requires
5. Aristotle’s 3 types of friendships
6. Greta Christina’s criticism of “vaginal
intercourse” as a problematic definition
of what it means to “have sex”
7. Greta Christina’s analysis of 3 potential
alternative definitions of what sex is
8. Goldman, Nagel, and Solomon’s
definitions of what sex is
9. Why Augustine thinks lust is sinful and
sex is shameful
10. The difference Augustine draws between
lust and love
11. What Solomon means when he says that
love is a cultural and historical emotion
12. What philosophical, socioeconomic, and
culture shifts Solomon thinks led to our
contemporary notion of romantic love
13. What the features of romantic love are,
according to Solomon
14. Why Schopenhauer thinks love is an
illusion
15. Schopenhauer’s view of love in relation
to evolution and reproduction
16. What Schopenhauer thinks makes us
passionate about a particular person we
love
17. Aristophanes’ story and what it says
about love’s purpose
18. What, specifically, Aristotle thinks a good
friend can do to help you attain a good
life
19. Pausanias’ distinction between Common
Love and Heavenly love
20. Whether there is any kind of equality in
Pausanias’ Heavenly love
21. Ortega y Gassett’s theory of falling in
love
22. Why Ortega y Gassett believes that we
attach so much importance to the person
we fall in love with
23. The distinction Ortega y Gassett draws
between love and obsession
24. Stendhal’s “Crystallization” theory of
falling in love (inc. all 7 steps and what
“crystallization” is)
25. Solomon’s paradox of love and the
problem that leads to