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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which one of the following scenarios, according to Socrates, would most likely give rise to a tyrannical government?
(a) A man, claiming to save the poor from the rich in a democracy, rising to power and being immediately corrupted by it.
(b) A military lieutenant from within the general's ranks making a grab for power to control the timocracy.
(c) A merchant purchasing secret information about the government and using it to blackmail congress.
(d) A hero completing a mythical quest which bestows immortality upon him.

2. The Athenian jury finds Socrates_________.
(a) Guilty and sentences him to exile.
(b) Innocent and acquits him of all charges.
(c) Guilty and sentences him to death.
(d) Innocent on some charges but guilty on others.

3. Which subject should be taught last in Socrates' curriculum?
(a) Ontology (study of being).
(b) Mathematics.
(c) Dialectic (the study of reasoning).
(d) Logic.

4. Socrates believes that the Sophists________________.
(a) Are evil imitators posing as philosophers.
(b) Are philosophers themselves.
(c) Have values worth learning from.
(d) Should be exiled on grounds of impiety.

5. According to Socrates, how should a good philosopher rule?
(a) Rule, but willingly so.
(b) Not associate with politics.
(c) Never rule because absolute power corrupts absolutely.
(d) Rule, but unwillingly so.

6. Socrates explains that the common man sees the philosopher as useless because_________.
(a) He is self-serving, and, therefore, despises those who judge him.
(b) He mistakes thoughfulness for idleness.
(c) He is blinded by ignorance, not seeing the intrinsic importance to their purpose.
(d) He is concerned with the soul, not with books.

7. What must the philosopher, according to Socrates in Book VI, employ in order to attain knowledge of "absolute good"?
(a) Judgment against "absolute evil."
(b) Hypotheses about what is good in the world.
(c) Public opinion of theoretical subjects.
(d) Guessing and hoping he gets lucky.

8. Socrates concludes Book X with a theory of _______________.
(a) Reverse psychology.
(b) Revolution for the government.
(c) Reincarnation of souls.
(d) Metaphysical phenomenology.

9. One theme that is present in Book X, and in other dialogues is______________.
(a) Learning as recalled knowledge.
(b) The myth of reincarnation.
(c) The immortality of the soul.
(d) Platonic forms manifest on earth.

10. In the then-present Greece, Socrates believes that __________.
(a) There are very few true philosophers.
(b) Sophists fill the role of philosophers.
(c) The rise of a philosopher-king, though desirable, is an impossible scenario.
(d) There are very many true philosophers.

11. Socrates metaphorically refers to himself as __________,
(a) The gadfly of the state.
(b) A catalyst for a shift in power.
(c) A growing pain in the body.
(d) The bosom of the cow.

12. With whom does Socrates discuss the education of soldiers and philosophers?
(a) Glaucon.
(b) Agathon.
(c) Meno.
(d) Adeimantus.

13. Socrates believes that a philosopher is best rewarded in death if ________.
(a) His soul continues to survive, while his body is laid to rest.
(b) He becomes a god.
(c) He is brought back to life.
(d) His soul is laid to rest, while his body continues to survive.

14. From Socrates' point of view, the philosopher is __________ than the tyrant.
(a) Immensely more happy.
(b) Vested with less power.
(c) More rewarded.
(d) Worse off.

15. After the verdict, Socrates warns the Athenian jury that________.
(a) If they execute him, they will only be hurting themselves, as his role will be impossible to replace.
(b) They are acting unjustly by carrying out the entire trial in one day.
(c) If they do not convict him, the public will think them weak.
(d) If they exile him, he will spread slander about the Athenian justice system

Short Answer Questions

1. In Book IX, what is the common man's deepest pleasure?

2. Wise souls, Socrates asserts, will always choose paths of_________.

3. What does Crito want Socrates to do?

4. The evil of the soul, explained in Book X by Socrates, is ___________.

5. The tyrannical man, according to Socrates, is characterized by___________.

(see the answer keys)

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