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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. For what do praise and blame come about, according to Aristotle in III.1?

2. With what is the virtue of generosity concerned, according to Aristotle?

3. How many sorts of political justice are there by the count of Aristotle?

4. Which of the following sort of expenditures does Aristotle NOT consider to be honorably magnificent?

5. Which of the following words least accurately describes the virtue that is the topic of IV.5?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does it mean to say, as Aristotle explains it, that nothing can be habituated to be other than it is by nature?

2. What are the conditions Aristotle gives for properly calling someone happy in Book I, Chapter 9, and why does he give these?

3. With what virtuous dispositions are Book IV, Chapters 6-9 concerned?

4. According to Aristotle, in what way is justice reciprocal, and why?

5. What characterizes Aristotle's notion of the generous person?

6. In what way does Aristotle claim gentleness (or mildness) is related to the virtues concerned with honor and magnanimity?

7. What does Aristotle mean by saying that a virtue is an active condition or state of the soul?

8. What sort of ruler becomes a tyrant, according to Aristotle's observations?

9. What is the content of the suggestion of Aristotle regarding overcompensation and the acquisition of personal virtue?

10. To which of the vicious extremes is the truthful man closer in disposition and why, according to Aristotle?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Book X of the Ethics, Aristotle discusses at some length the relationship between pleasure and true happiness. Compose an essay which discusses the nature of this relationship, explicating how the two are intertwined with one another. What is true pleasure? What is true happiness? In what sort of activities do true pleasure and true happiness consist? How is Aristotle's opinion different from those who preceded him? Is Aristotle's opinion superior? If so why, and if not, why not?

Essay Topic 2

Amidst virtues that seem more magnificent, oftentimes Aristotle's considerations of the virtue of good humor--sometimes called ready wit--are glossed over. Analyze this virtue in a thoughtful essay, examining the importance of humor to an individual and to society. What constitutes the virtue of good humor? What are the vices in opposition to it? Why are these vices detrimental to individuals and society as a whole? Why is good humor important to society? How does humor aid man in seeking his ethically-proper end?

Essay Topic 3

Of the five intellectual virtues, wisdom receives almost as much attention as practical judgment, but is simultaneously put somewhat out of the reach of human beings. In an analytical essay, examine the nature of wisdom as a virtue: its ends and objects, its purpose, and its position as an excellence or perfection as an intellectual virtue. How is it distinct from the other intellectual virtues? Why is it difficult, or perhaps even impossible, for human beings to attain? Answering this question will take some consideration of the whole of the Ethics.

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