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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Seneca, what is death?
(a) The gateway to Heaven and an opportunity to meet the gods.
(b) An unconscious state of non-existence or a better state than life.
(c) A doorway into a wonderful after life.
(d) Nothing but an unconscious state of non-existence.

2. Whose first instinct is it to incorporate wisdom into his life and actions?
(a) The priest.
(b) The literary scholar.
(c) The philosopher.
(d) The teacher.

3. What does Seneca name as never too great for a man to endure, thanks to nature's way of minimizing them?
(a) Heartbreaks.
(b) Loves.
(c) Choices.
(d) Pains.

4. According to Seneca, what should a person use to guide his life?
(a) Logic.
(b) Examples.
(c) Theory.
(d) Religion.

5. According to his criticism in Letter CVIII, what does Seneca say literary scholars should do with philosophical theories?
(a) Interpret them correctly.
(b) Write fiction about them that will appeal to the masses.
(c) Compare them to other theories.
(d) Apply them to their own lives.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who wrote the "Aeneid?"

2. Who especially does Seneca consider when he makes his move to the country?

3. How does Seneca spend most of his day?

4. What is caused by the flaunting of one's possessions?

5. According to Letter LXXXVIII, how important is the knowledge of the liberal arts to Stoicism?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Seneca object to Posidinus' claims that philosopher's ruled during the Golden Age and were responsible for many new technological innovations?

2. What is the concept of causation according to Aristotle?

3. What is the purpose of technology, according to Seneca?

4. How, according to Letter LXXXIII, does Seneca spend his day?

5. Why does Seneca believe only a philosopher can appreciate wisdom?

6. What is the value of a liberal arts education, according to Seneca?

7. Why does Seneca say the Stoic account of causation is better than both Aristotle's and Plato's?

8. What advice does Seneca give Lucilius about coping with illness and the sometimes severe symptoms that accompany it?

9. How, according to Seneca, are life and philosophy both the gifts of the gods?

10. What does Plato add to Aristotle's theory of causation?

(see the answer keys)

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