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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why is Socrates wiser than anyone he knows?
(a) Because of his powerful observational skills of the natural world.
(b) Because he knows all the best philosophers in Athens, including Plato.
(c) Because he knows that he knows nothing.
(d) Because of his great understanding of physics and astronomy.

2. What does Socrates tell his friends and supporters after his sentence is decided?
(a) He asks them to visit him and talk with him.
(b) He berates them for their lack of support.
(c) He asks them to never look upon him again.
(d) He makes them promise to build a bigger school after his death.

3. What does Socrates discover when he speaks with and interviews "wise men"?
(a) He discovers they know nothing.
(b) Wise men is where Socrates got all his knowledge from.
(c) He realized they were simply trying to get him to convert to worshiping Apollo.
(d) They are nearly as intelligent as himself.

4. What does Socrates claim about his relationship with his students?
(a) He has never claimed to teach, only to talk honestly.
(b) He makes them suffer only so he can teach them more.
(c) He has no students, and the trial is a complete farce.
(d) His students are all too stupid to do much damage.

5. How does Socrates display his piety?
(a) He attempts to read the stars, in order to become closer to the heavens.
(b) He makes regular sacrifices to Zeus.
(c) He worships the god that the oracle of Delphi worships.
(d) He reminds all his students to pray at the shrine of Hera.

Short Answer Questions

1. What sentence does Socrates' friends beg for him to choose?

2. What famous text succeeded in tarnishing Socrates' reputation, dealing him a blow in his trial?

3. In Euthyphro, what problem does Socrates have with the suggestion that it is good to be dear to the gods?

4. According to Athenian law, is Socrates innocent or guilty of the crimes charged to him?

5. Why does Socrates believe he may lose his trial from the very start?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Socrates charged with corrupting the youth? Why do the youth follow his philosophy and ideas?

2. Is Socrates innocent or guilty of the charges against him, in the eyes of Athens and its legal system?

3. How does Socrates relate human goodness to the first definition of piety provided in Euthyphro?

4. What is Socrates' counter to the second definition of piety offered in Euthyphro?

5. What is the nature of Socrates' comparing himself to Achilles? What is Socrates illustrating with this comparison?

6. Why doesn't Socrates wish to be pitied? How does this relate to the fact that he did not bring his family to court with him?

7. Who are the characters of Euthyphro? What is the setting?

8. What second definition of piety is offered by Euthyphro in Euthyphro?

9. What does Socrates believe to be the central question of life, as revealed in Apology? How should one pursue or answer this question?

10. What first definition of piety is provided in Euthyphro? What does the character providing the definition cite as an example that proves his definition?

(see the answer keys)

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