SparkNotes "Sophie's World"

A philosopher knows that in reality he knows very little. That is why he constantly strives to achieve true insight. Socrates was one of these rare people. He knew that he knew nothing about life and the world. And now comes the important part: it troubled him that he knew so little.

Gaarder (author) seems to wholeheartedly embrace existentialism.
We all come to terms with the world in our own way. But we must not make the mistake of living our lives according to a set of values that turn out not to really hold any meaning.

What does Alberto Knox tell Sophie one needs to do in order to truly live?

Travel and explore
Question and ponder
Never stop reading
Take chances and risks


According to the letter Sophie receives, what is the only requirement for being a philosopher?

Intelligence
A vast library
Capacity for wonder


What amazes Sophie about the philosopher Democritus, who believed that everything was made up of atoms?

He was so young
He used prior philosophers 
He couldn’t read


What did Plato believe regarding the place of women in matters of intellect?

Equally capable of reasoning
Much better than men
Incapable of true philosophy
Capable of small contributions


How did Aristotle view women?

Gifted in some ways
Incapable of reasoning
Unfinished men


In what tool did Aristotle believe, above all others?

Talk
Imagination
Senses


What is the name of the belief that God is present throughout nature?
Pantheism 
Polytheism


During the Baroque period
(Portuguese barroco, or “oddly shaped pearl,” for Western European art music from 1600 to 1750),
what conflict characterized philosophy?

Idealism vs. materialism 
Pantheism vs. polytheism
Optimism vs. cynicism
Religion vs. science


What did Hegel believe about the concept of “right” and “wrong”?

Definite rights and wrongs
Depends on culture only
Changes depending on context


According to Kierkegaard, which of the following is not a stage of life?
Religious stage
Aesthetic stage
Ethical stage
Intellectual stage


One true test of a belief is what you're willing to undergo to uphold it. Socrates is a man of principle because he was willing to die for what he believed in. This is ironic: Athens was a hotbed of learning. The death sentence of a man who simply asked questions proved that the state was attempting to control the thoughts of citizens.

Plato returns to the idea of change. Socrates was concerned with moral philosophy and human interaction, and Plato attempted to unify a theory of the natural world with one of humanity. Plato was Socrates' pupil, and so clearly much of his work was influenced by Socrates. [...in a chronological manner, but she still takes the philosophy of each as a separate entity.] Philosophy definitely builds upon itself, but it is important not to forget that each philosopher is an individual thinker capable of coming up with unique ideas. [...] Plato would not have been the great philosopher that he was if he had not been taught by Socrates, but his education did not make his ideas inevitable. The history of philosophy is not necessarily additive. Thinkers use and respond to the ideas of those before them, but this does not mean they are following some necessary progression in the history of thought. 

Challenge the status quo. Think beyond the routines of daily life. Sacrificing one's life for one's principles is the right thing to do.

The irony that philosophy is something that everyone should be interested in because the questions it addresses apply to everyone

Spinoza, heavily influenced by Descartes, he was the first to suggest that the Bible be read critically. He was persecuted for his beliefs, and his own family even deserted him. Spinoza viewed the world itself as a part of God. He rejected Descartes's dualism and believed that thought and extension are simply two of God's features that we can perceive. He had a deterministic view of the world, believing that God controlled all through natural laws. Spinoza felt that only God was truly free but that people could attain happiness through seeing things "from the perspective of eternity.

Hume was the greatest of the empiricists and had a tremendous influence on Kant, a later philosopher. Hume was concerned with cleaning up our thoughts. He believed that perception was made up of "impressions" and "ideas". Impressions are how we experience the world, and ideas are what we recall of our impressions. Both ideas and impressions can be simple or complex, but complex ideas can be made through our imagination—an angel is one example. He wanted to examine our complex ideas in order to throw out everything that did not stem directly from impressions. He pointed out that we have no unchanging ego, since what we perceive as ourselves is in reality a huge number of perceptions that change rapidly. The Buddha also believed this, and both he and Hume opposed the idea of an eternal soul. Hume was an agnostic.

Hume believed that what we cannot know for sure that what we call laws of nature are unbreakable. Just because every time we have seen a stone dropped it has fallen to the ground does not mean that it has to do so. We simply expect it to fall. We impose our idea of cause and effect on the world. We perceive a billiard ball hitting another and decide that the first causes the movement of the second. In reality, all we have seen is that the second moves after and we ascribe causality to what we have seen occur again and again. Hume also pointed out that we act in accord with our feelings, not our reason. He warned against concluding that what is is what ought to be.