View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What sort of people does Aristotle state seldom turn up in positions of power?

2. How many kinds of things does Aristotle say there are that must be avoided, having to do with one's character?

3. What does Aristotle, in VIII.5, say causes forgetfulness of friendship?

4. From Aristotle's perspective, what sort of friendship do complaints and reproaches most frequently arise?

5. When do people eat snacks the most in theaters, according to Aristotle in X.5?

Short Essay Questions

1. Through the possession of what virtue, according to Aristotle, is man said to have possession of all the intellectual virtues, at least to some degree, and why?

2. What would it mean, for Aristotle, to describe a sort of friendship as being a hybrid?

3. What is meant by Aristotle saying that pleasures from different sources can be impediments to activities?

4. In what way does Aristotle agree with Socrates concerning knowledge and moral action?

5. What is the essential unity that Aristotle claims between knowledge and action in the person possessed of practical judgment?

6. What characterizes the blame put upon people who are in animal-like conditions, according to Aristotle's perspective?

7. Explain the three sorts of friendship described in Book VIII.

8. Explain Aristotle's distinction between affection and friendship.

9. What is one reason Aristotle gives for which someone ought not to treat former friends in some way different than strangers if the friendship was dissolved to to an excess of vice?

10. Why does Aristotle state that words concerning feelings and actions are less believable than actions themselves?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

A rather interesting part of Aristotle's Ethics is where he describes the relationship between law and justice: for all justice is, in a sense, lawful, but not all laws are just. In a careful interpretative essay, examine this relationship according to the text of Aristotle. What is the nature of law? What is the nature of justice? How do they influence one another? From where do laws come? From where should laws come? Why does justice operate through law?

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,090 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample