View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. According to Socrates' insinuation, artistic knowledge is characterized as which of the following?
(a) Ironic.
(b) Subjective.
(c) Useless.
(d) Universal.

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

4. To which other creative art does Socrates propose censorship?
(a) History.
(b) Dance.
(c) Music.
(d) Mathematics.

5. What analogies does Socrates employ to refute Thrasymachus' position on justice?
(a) He compares democracy to dictatorship and aristocracy.
(b) He compares the skill of a leader to the respective skills of a doctor, house-builder, and sailor.
(c) He compares justice to food, both nourishing the soul.
(d) He compares a money-maker to a philosopher and a clergyman.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Socrates' ideal nation, literature which depicts the afterlife should depict it as___________.

2. Where is wisdom found in Socrates' ideal republic?

3. Who said the following: "may not the art of which neither teachers nor disciples exist be assumed to be incapable of being taught?"

4. When Meno arrives in Athens, who is accompanying him?

5. What does Socrates tell Ion about a person who can recite poetry well?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Meno's definition of virtue unsatisfactory for Socrates?

2. Is The Republic only interested in individual justice?

3. What is Socrates ultimate conclusion about the function of justice?

4. Whom does Socrates think is to be chosen to rule the city and why?

5. How is the story of the Symposium framed? How does this relate to the cultural values of the Greeks?

6. How does Socrates plan to prevent the rulers from becoming tyrants?

7. What does Diotima teach Socrates about love? How does this compare to Aristophanes' view?

8. Why aren't the soldiers in Socrates' republic well compensated?

9. Explain the irony of the following statement as it relates to Ion: "Plato is the supreme enemy of art and is also the supreme artist."

10. What is Polemarchus main mistake in defining justice as "benefiting one's friends and harming one's enemies"?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,196 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample