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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. How does Socrates plan to keep the soldiers of the republic from fighting?

2. In Ion, Socrates concludes that Ion's ability to memorize poetry is which of the following?

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

4. To illustrate one facet of his argument, Socrates employs the help of which character?

5. Toward the end of Book IV Socrates weaves an analogy between________________.

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Cephalus tell Socrates about the key to enjoying old age?

2. Why is Meno's definition of virtue unsatisfactory for Socrates?

3. How should soldiers, according to Socrates, be trained in the ideal republic?

4. Why does Socrates want to censor literature in his republic?

5. What is the purpose of Aristophanes' myth about men and women once being unified and then split apart? How does he end his story?

6. What is Polemarchus main mistake in defining justice as "benefiting one's friends and harming one's enemies"?

7. What is Socrates ultimate conclusion about the function of justice?

8. What is Socrates' view on poets and soothsayers?

9. Explain the irony of the following statement as it relates to Ion: "Plato is the supreme enemy of art and is also the supreme artist."

10. What is an art, according to Socrates?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

According to Socrates position in Crito, how is the city the father of its citizen? How are his actions towards his family in Phaedo or his comments about his family in Apology consistent with or inconsistent with this position? Does this complicate the idea of Socrates as a hero?

Essay Topic 2

In Apology Socrates claims quite famously that: "the unexamined life is not worth living." Discuss the ramifications of the statement, and prove its validity in your own words. How might a Sophist try to disprove this assertion? How might Socrates answer these rebuttals?

Essay Topic 3

Socrates notes several times in The Republic that the traditional model for a family is not the best way to ensure a society's greatness. He makes several proposals, including a system where children are raised not by their biological parents, but held "in common." Compare and contrast Socrates' republic concerning child-rearing practices with your favorite dystopian novel/film (ex. Brave New World, V for Vendetta, 1984). Is Socrates creating a utopia or a dystopia? Use the ideas of other authors on this subject in conversation with the text.

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