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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Crito's relationship to Socrates?

2. Socrates believes that the Sophists________________.

3. Socrates believes that a philosopher is best rewarded in death if ________.

4. Whom does Socrates think is the fourth (and least) happiest social class of man in the republic?

5. According to Socrates, to what does a true philosopher owe his life?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is the tyrannical man the most miserable, according to Socrates?

2. What should be done about the poets, according to Socrates in Book X?

3. Why does Socrates think that aspiring philosophers should be instructed in dialectic only at the end of their educations?

4. How does Socrates argue that it is unlawful to break out of prison?

5. Characterize the nature of Socrates' speech in his own defense.

6. How can tyranny arise in a democratic state?

7. Why can't the common man see the world like the philosopher, according to Socrates?

8. What is the ultimate goal of the philosopher, as explained by Socrates in Book VI? How does he attain this?

9. What is the point of Socrates' discussion of evil and injustice after death?

10. What happens to the soul after it is dead, according to Socrates?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Republic discusses many grandiose themes such as knowledge, friendship, kinship, love, justice, economics, government, and religion at length. Choose a topic, along the same lines, that Plato missed in his dialogues. See if you can argue, based on text you've already read, how Plato or Socrates would weigh in on the issue. You may use current political debates (health care, euthanasia, abortion) as your topic if you desire. You do not need to to this, however.

Essay Topic 2

Socrates notes several times in The Republic that the traditional model for a family is not the best way to ensure a society's greatness. He makes several proposals, including a system where children are raised not by their biological parents, but held "in common." Compare and contrast Socrates' republic concerning child-rearing practices with your favorite dystopian novel/film (ex. Brave New World, V for Vendetta, 1984). Is Socrates creating a utopia or a dystopia? Use the ideas of other authors on this subject in conversation with the text.

Essay Topic 3

In Phaedo Socrates promotes the idea that philosophy is preparing for dying, and that a true philosopher should not fear death but welcome it. Would Socrates then be able to justify suicide as a good thing? Why or why not? Do you think Socrates commits suicide? Why or Why not?

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