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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is something Voltaire is noted for with his critics?
(a) destroying enemies with a pen
(b) suing his enemies in court
(c) challenging his enemies to duels
(d) ignoring his enemies

2. To answer Rousseau, what satirical story does Voltaire write about the best of all possible worlds?
(a) The Misanthrope
(b) Atlantis
(c) Candide
(d) Utopia

3. Where does Voltaire write The Romances?
(a) in Cirey, France
(b) in London, England
(c) in Frankfurt, Germany
(d) in Bonn, Germany

4. How does every society and government ruins itself?
(a) by enabling excess in principle
(b) by growing tired
(c) by letting down their guard
(d) by being too constrictive

5. What does Spinoza call the highest knowledge of universal unity?
(a) the lessons from philosophers of the past
(b) the educated answers to philosophical questions
(c) understanding the influence of the stars
(d) the intellectual equivalent of the love of God

6. What, according to Spinoza, is scripture intended to promote?
(a) devotion rather than to reason
(b) reason over superstition
(c) clarity rather than confusion
(d) literature rather than science

7. What does Aristotle establish in Athens?
(a) a scientific museum
(b) a political party
(c) a system of exchange
(d) a school of oratory

8. Eventually what does Alexander's conquests in Asia open up to the Greeks?
(a) Eastern monotheism
(b) important trade routes
(c) cults and superstitious faiths
(d) lavish lifestyles

9. By the thirteenth century A. D., how does the Church unite the European continent?
(a) by common faith and supernatural sanctions
(b) by persecution of heresy
(c) by millitancy and fear
(d) by common language and desires

10. What does the King of Syracuse learn that causes him to cancel his invitation to Plato to organize Utopia?
(a) that Plato is unpopular in Athens
(b) that he will have to work for a living
(c) that he must leave his throne
(d) that he must share his wealth

11. What event makes the rival schools of Stoicism and Epicureanism split philosophically?
(a) the arrival of missionaries from the East
(b) the disintegration of public infrastructures
(c) the Romans' arrival in 46 B.C.
(d) the resurgance of Judaism

12. Why is Bacon often accused of being atheistic?
(a) because he denies the authority of the Church
(b) because he talks about natrue rather than God
(c) because he seldom attends church
(d) because his philosophy is secular and rationalistic

13. How old is Francis Bacon when he resolves to turn philosophy from scholastic arguments to illumination and increase of human good?
(a) age twenty-four
(b) age fifty
(c) age thirty
(d) age sixteen

14. When is Plato born?
(a) in the fourth century B.C.
(b) in the first century B. C.
(c) in the second century B. C.
(d) Ca 400 B. C.

15. Reducing everything through the Socratic Method, what do Socrates and Cephalus agree to discuss?
(a) the meaning of justice
(b) the meaning of philosophy
(c) the meaning of happiness
(d) the meaning of war

Short Answer Questions

1. What motivates Voltaire to accept Prince Frederick's invitation and travel expenses to join him in his court in Potsdam?

2. What question does Plato raise to lead into a discussion of Utopia?

3. What does Plato say is a science and art one must live and prepare for?

4. Where does the Jewish migration along the Danube and Rhine rivers take the Jews?

5. At what age does Plato advocate taking children from their parents to avoid learning bad habits?

(see the answer keys)

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