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

2. Which sort of political justice is most universal in Aristotle's view?

3. At what does every action seem to aim, according to Aristotle?

4. Which of the following does Aristotle explicitly claim is better than acting unjustly in V.11?

5. Which word adequately indicates the character of the man whose vice is in opposition to that of the braggart, according to Aristotle's description?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the relationship of virtues to extremes of excess and deficiency in the philosophy of Aristotle?

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

3. Explain Aristotle's distinction between the good and the apparent good, and those who pursue each, as given in III.4.

4. How does Aristotle characterize those who are rash?

5. What does Aristotle mean by saying that every art, inquiry, action, and choice aims at some good?

6. From what difficulty, according to Aristotle, does the dispute concerning the nature of happiness, as the end of all actions, arise?

7. What characterizes Aristotle's distinction between "willing" and "choice"?

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

9. The magnanimous man is concerned with what things and in what manner, according to Aristotle?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

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

Analyze in a comparative essay the three archetypal kinds of friends--utility, pleasure, and virtue--as they relate to man and to man's happiness. Which is the most perfect and truest kind of friendship, and why? What does true friendship do for man's moral character? What does true friendship have to do with happiness? What is the relationship between happiness and the lesser levels of friendship? What is the principal lesson that one ought to take away from Aristotle's extensive discussion of the topic of friendship?

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