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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Book V, what is the philosopher concerned with, according to Socrates?
(a) Beautiful things.
(b) The afterlife.
(c) Absolute being.
(d) Justice, and only justice.

2. How does Socrates defend the point that men and women are equal?
(a) Though they have different external organs, their internal ones are similar.
(b) Though they have different natures, they can perform the same tasks.
(c) Men need women to exist (and vice-versa), so man and woman are better regarded as parts of a whole rather than individuals.
(d) Though men are physically stronger, women are emotionally stronger.

3. According to Socrates, what are the three parts of the soul?
(a) Goodness, badness, and curiosity.
(b) Thoughtfulness, mindfulness, and power.
(c) Hate, love, and desire.
(d) Rationality, spirit, and appetite.

4. According to Socrates, where would the republic's leaders live?
(a) In the Academy.
(b) Separately from the citizens.
(c) Among the citizens.
(d) In a palace in the country's largest city.

5. Who is the last person to leave the symposium?
(a) Diotima.
(b) Aristophenes.
(c) Appolodorus.
(d) Socrates.

6. Describe Meno's appearance and attitude when he meets Socrates.
(a) Youthful, though ugly and shy.
(b) Old, thoughtful, and wise.
(c) Young and handsome though impulsive and arrogant.
(d) Middle- aged and curious.

7. How does Socrates rebut the definition of virtue offered by the poets?
(a) By proving to Meno that there are many commonly held virtues.
(b) By instructing Meno that it is impossible to have an abstract entity which moves other things but does not move itself.
(c) By showing Meno that all men desire good things, but that not all men are virtuous.
(d) By giving Meno a solid definition of virtue.

8. What poet is cited by Cephalus to explain the paradox of old age?
(a) Shakespeare.
(b) Homer.
(c) Pindar.
(d) Petrach.

9. How does Dimotia characterize love?
(a) Beautiful and pure, like virtue or reason.
(b) Curious and enigmatic, like the Gods.
(c) Crude and deceitful, like the desire for immortality.
(d) Grounded and rational, like a mathematical equation.

10. In the dialogue, Meno blames the confusion in his speech on which of the following?
(a) Socrates, because Socrates is deliberately confusing Meno about a subject which Meno thought he knew.
(b) Himself, because he does not think himself a good exemplar of what virtue is.
(c) Himself, because he has not had ample time to prepare for a deep conversation.
(d) Socrates, because Socrates is not listening to Meno's points.

11. Socrates concludes which of the following about virtue?
(a) If it is the same in everyone, then we should be able to define it.
(b) If it can be taught then it is knowledge.
(c) If it manifests differently in different people, than it cannot have one definition.
(d) It cannot be taught and is therefore not knowledge.

12. What does Socrates assert about his views of the ideal state?
(a) They are based on insidious accusations against the current ruling power.
(b) They are without flaw.
(c) They will bring about the coming of a new empire.
(d) They break certain established social norms.

13. When pressed by Socrates to explain his skill, Ion asserts which of the following?
(a) When he recites passage about military exploits he cannot tell if he does so with the candor of a general.
(b) When he recites poetry he feels like the poet himself.
(c) He is unqualified to comment on the artistic value of the his recitations.
(d) Socrates should not be asking him questions.

14. When he first meets Socrates, Meno asks the following question:
(a) Where he can learn how to be a philosopher?
(b) Is virtue taught, or is it inherent to good people?
(c) Is justice necessarily a good thing?
(d) How do we know if what we are seeing in the physical world actually exists?

15. What definition of virtue do Meno and Socrates borrow from "the poets"?
(a) Virtue is different for every person.
(b) Virtue, like other abstract notions, resists our best attempts to define it.
(c) Virtue is the desire and power to obtain good things.
(d) Virtue is the unmoved mover of all things.

Short Answer Questions

1. To understand Ion's poetically inspired spirit, Socrates employs a metaphor of which of the following?

2. What are "the three"?

3. How does Socrates plan to keep the soldiers of the republic from fighting?

4. One virtue that Socrates constantly refers to in his reasoning throughout Book III is_____________.

5. Though Glaucon is primarily concerned about justice within the individual, Socrates first begins by analyzing __________.

(see the answer keys)

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