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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 the impasse Aristotle confronts in IX.8?

2. Actions that pertain to what two things are considered by Aristotle to be the most beautiful and magnificent?

3. In what sort of life is self-sufficiency most present in the view of Aristotle?

4. Friendship with whom is discussed in IX.4?

5. In X.1, Aristotle says that people educate the young by what two means?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what way, for Aristotle, do the pursuits of actions in accord with the virtues that pertain to politics and war differ from those that pertain to contemplation?

2. Give an example of something affirmed by knowledge, as that which cannot be otherwise than it is.

3. 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?

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

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

6. Explain the relationship Aristotle makes note of between affirming and denying in thinking and pursuing, and avoiding in desiring.

7. For Aristotle, in what does the relationship between man's nature and his need for friends consist?

8. Why does Aristotle state that pleasure is not a motion?

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

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

Compose an analytical essay which presents a clear thesis on some aspect of justice as Aristotle discusses it in Book V of the Nicomachean Ethics. Be sure to answer the following:

-What is justice?

-Why is justice a virtue?

-What is unique about justice as a virtue?

(see the answer keys)

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