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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When pressed by Socrates to explain his skill, Ion asserts which of the following?
(a) When he recites passage about military exploits he cannot tell if he does so with the candor of a general.
(b) He is unqualified to comment on the artistic value of the his recitations.
(c) When he recites poetry he feels like the poet himself.
(d) Socrates should not be asking him questions.

2. Though Glaucon is primarily concerned about justice within the individual, Socrates first begins by analyzing __________.
(a) Virtue as it is demanded of the city's leaders.
(b) Glaucon's own virtue.
(c) Justice as it relates to a small family.
(d) Justice as it relates to an entire city's population.

3. Who is the surprise visitor to the symposium, and why does he come?
(a) Appolodorus comes because he is angry he wasn't invited.
(b) Aristotle arrives late because he traveled farther than the others.
(c) Alcibiades comes because he is drunk and wants to seduce Socrates.
(d) There is no surprise visitor.

4. In order to respond to Glaucon's objections, Socrates ___________________.
(a) Tries to find justice in animals before finding justice in humans.
(b) Analogizes justice to fine skills like woodworking and carpentry.
(c) Posits an ideal city so that he might discover where justice comes from.
(d) Changes the subject completely.

5. In Ion, Socrates concludes that Ion's ability to memorize poetry is which of the following?
(a) Not proof that he knows what it actually means.
(b) An art that he learned from others.
(c) Divinely inspired, just like the very poets whom Ion recites.
(d) Proof that he knows what it actually means.

6. In the beginning of Book IV, Adeimantus ask Socrates__________________.
(a) When Socrates thinks it feasible for his city to exist.
(b) Why Socrates adopts such a strange view of medicine.
(c) Why the city's soldiers should be deprived of material happiness.
(d) Where Socrates plans to get resources to build his city.

7. Which of the following does Socrates reason about Ion?
(a) Ion is a handsome, though misguided poet.
(b) Ion is sad when his crowds are sad and happy when his crowds are happy.
(c) Ion knows more than Socrates.
(d) Ion must be outside his mind when he recites poetry.

8. How does Socrates refute Polemarchus' definition of justice?
(a) Socrates asserts that doing evil, even to an evil man, makes the doer unjust.
(b) Socrates reasons that it is impossible to determine what is fair in every situation.
(c) Socrates shows Polemarchus that stealing from the rich is unjust.
(d) Socrates shows Polemarchus that every man is intrinsically free, regardless of the law.

9. Why does Socrates discuss Asclepius' philosophy?
(a) His leadership is a good example of how not to lead.
(b) He has a practical approach of only treating patients whom he knows he can heal.
(c) He disagrees with Socrates about the ideal republic.
(d) His leadership is well established.

10. What is the major point of Aristophanes' speech?
(a) Love is as complicated and confusing as good poetry.
(b) Love is the desire for unity, because man and woman were once a unified being.
(c) Everything eventually dies, so it is pointless to love anything.
(d) Men loving woman is necessarily better than men loving men, because the former allows for procreation.

11. How does Polemarchus define justice?
(a) Stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.
(b) Being fair in all contexts.
(c) Doing good to one's friends and evil to one's enemies.
(d) Allowing each man to live his life freely.

12. How does Dimotia characterize love?
(a) Grounded and rational, like a mathematical equation.
(b) Curious and enigmatic, like the Gods.
(c) Crude and deceitful, like the desire for immortality.
(d) Beautiful and pure, like virtue or reason.

13. Who is Glaucon?
(a) One of the interlocutors.
(b) The ideal solider.
(c) Not philosophically ambitious.
(d) Socrates' son.

14. In Book V, Socrates admits which of the following about his republic?
(a) His city will rule the world.
(b) He hopes his city is built, just not in his lifetime.
(c) Many people would have to be brainwashed before they would live in such a city.
(d) Though theoretically sound, such a city might not be actually possible.

15. Who is Eryximachus?
(a) A doctor who argues that love is like a medicine curing life's ailments.
(b) A poet who argues that men and woman were once fused beings.
(c) A philosopher who attacks Pausanias' postion.
(d) The last speaker and surprise guest at the symposium.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who says, at the very end of Book II, "I completely endorse these patterns, and I would enact them as laws"?

2. One virtue that Socrates constantly refers to in his reasoning throughout Book III is_____________.

3. Why is Socrates worried about literature which contains wayward characters?

4. Complete the comparison: philosophers have wisdom whereas common men have _______

5. In Republic: Book III, Socrates is first concerned with:

(see the answer keys)

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