Deck 7: Plato Why Should We Be Good

Question 1

According to the received nature, or common view of justice (not Socrates's view):

A) it is far better to live an unjust life than a just one.
B) it is far better to live a just life than an unjust one.
C) it is better to balance between a just and unjust life.
D) it does not matter whether you act just or unjust.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

According to the received nature, or common view of justice (not Socrates's view), people who practice justice do so ...

A) because it is the right thing to do.
B) against their will and out of necessity.
C) because it is a good in itself (i.e., self-rewarding)
D) to achieve a better afterlife.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The point of the Ring of Gyges story was to show that ...

A) with great power comes great responsibility.
B) one should never steal buried treasure.
C) without threat of punishment, people will always choose to do injustice.
D) invisibility can be fun.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

According to the received nature, or common view of justice (not Socrates's view), laws and what is considered "just" are arrived at ...

A) from common sense.
B) through the political process.
C) from the gods.
D) as an agreement to avoid both doing injustice and suffering injustice.

Question 5

According to the received nature, or common view of justice (not Socrates's view), the perfectly and completely unjust person...

A) is the happiest and is perceived to be just.
B) suffers from his or her moral conscience.
C) will be punished and sentenced to death.
D) will always lose against the perfectly just.

Question 6

According to the received nature, or common view of justice (not Socrates's view), the perfectly and completely just person ...

A) must suffer through life and appear unjust to society.
B) reaps the greatest rewards in the afterlife.
C) is trusted by everyone and has the most friends.
D) is happier than the perfectly unjust person.

Question 7

For the purposes of his argument, how does Socrates describe the human soul or creature?

A) As a composition of many different natures into one.
B) Created by God in his image.
C) As evolved through natural selection.
D) As solely a rational, intelligent being.

Question 8

What example does Socrates give to show that the unjust do not truly profit?

A) Someone who gets caught and is thrown in jail.
B) Someone who is punished by the gods.
C) Someone who loses all of his or her money to gambling.
D) Someone who sells themselves or children into slavery for money.

Question 9

In Socrates's metaphor for the human soul, what do the unjust do?

A) Sell their souls to Hades.
B) Allow their wild, beast-like nature take dominate and overshadow their humanity.
C) Tame the wild beasts inside them.
D) Consume the souls of the just.

Question 10

In Socrates's metaphor for the human soul, what do the just do?

A) Attract the favor of the Gods.
B) Ascend to a better afterlife.
C) Control and master all of their desires and wild, animal-like instincts.
D) Accumulate wealth, success and power.

Question 11

According to the received nature, or common view of justice (not Socrates's view), it is far better to live an unjust life than a just one.

Question 12

According to the received nature, or common view of justice (not Socrates's view), people who practice justice do so against their will and out of necessity.

Question 13

The point of the Ring of Gyges story was to show that with great power comes great responsibility.

Question 14

According to the received nature, or common view of justice (not Socrates's view), laws and what is considered "just" are arrived at through the political process.

Question 15

According to the received nature, or common view of justice (not Socrates's view), the perfectly and completely unjust person is the happiest and is perceived to be just.

Question 16

According to the received nature, or common view of justice (not Socrates's view), the perfectly and completely just person must suffer through life and appear unjust to society to prove he or she is truly just.

Question 17

For the purposes of his argument, Socrates describes the human soul or creature as solely a rational, intelligent being.

Question 18

To show that the unjust do not truly profit, Socrates gives the example of someone who sells themselves or children into slavery for money.

Question 19

In Socrates's metaphor for the human soul, the unjust are able to tame the wild beasts inside them.

Question 20

In Socrates's metaphor for the human soul, the just are able to control and master all of their desires and wild, animal-like instincts.

Question 21

How are the perfectly unjust man and perfectly just man each isolated to argue against Socrates that the unjust man is happier?

Question 22

At the beginning of the dialogue, it is argued that the origin and nature of justice is a mean or compromise. Explain why.

Question 23

At the beginning of the dialogue, it is argued that those who practice justice do so involuntarily. Explain why.

Question 24

Describe Socrates's metaphor of the human soul and how it relates to justice and injustice.

Question 25

By the end of the dialogue, did Socrates successfully persuade you that "to be just is always better than to be unjust?" Do you feel that Socrates adequately answered all the questions and defended against all the arguments laid out in the first half? Why or why not?

Question 26

According to Aristotle, intellectual virtue is a product of what?

A) Experience and teaching.
B) Habit.
C) A good education.
D) Nature.

Question 27

According to Aristotle, moral virtue is a product of what?

A) Nature.
B) Moral excellence.
C) Habit.
D) Devotion to one's religion.

Question 28

If the virtues are concerned with actions and passions, then the virtues will also be concerned with ...

A) the vices.
B) excellence.
C) right and wrong.
D) pleasures and pains.

Question 29

According to Aristotle, virtues and vices are ...

A) innate forms.
B) abstract entities.
C) states of character.
D) evolved drives.

Question 30

Aristotle says, "By __________, I mean appetite, anger, fear, confidence, envy, joy, friendly feeling, hatred, longing, emulation, pity, and in general the feelings that are accompanied by pleasure or pain."

A) forms
B) passions
C) faculties
D) states of character

Question 31

Aristotle says, "By __________, the things in virtue of which we are said to be capable of feeling these, e.g., of becoming angry or being pained or feeling pity."

A) forms
B) passions
C) faculties
D) states of character

Question 32

Aristotle says, "By ________________, the things in virtue of which we stand well or badly with reference to the passions."

A) forms
B) passions
C) faculties
D) states of character

Question 33

Aristotle says, "Virtue, then, is a state of character concerned with ________, lying in a mean, i.e., the mean relative to us, this being determined by a rational principle, and by that principle by which the man of practical wisdom would determine it."

A) aptitude
B) spirit
C) goals
D) choice

Question 34

Aristotle says, "With regard to pleasures and pains-not all of them, and not so much with regard to the pains-the mean is __________, the excess self-indulgence."

A) abstraction
B) temperance
C) effervescent
D) coaxial

Question 35

The two main kinds of virtues Aristotle is concerned with are intellectual and moral.

Question 36

According to Aristotle, intellectual virtue is a product of habit.

Question 37

According to Aristotle, moral virtue is a product of nature.

Question 38

According to Aristotle, if the virtues are concerned with actions and passions, then the virtues will also be concerned with pleasures and pains.

Question 39

According to Aristotle, virtues and vices are innate forms.

Question 40

Aristotle says, "By faculties, I mean appetite, anger, fear, confidence, envy, joy, friendly feeling, hatred, longing, emulation, pity, and in general the feelings that are accompanied by pleasure or pain."

Question 41

Aristotle says, "By passions, the things in virtue of which we are said to be capable of feeling these, e.g., of becoming angry or being pained or feeling pity."

Question 42

Aristotle says, "By states of character, the things in virtue of which we stand well or badly with reference to the passions."

Question 43

Aristotle says, "Virtue, then, is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean, i.e., the mean relative to us, this being determined by a rational principle, and by that principle by which the man of practical wisdom would determine it."

Question 44

Aristotle says, "With regard to pleasures and pains-not all of them, and not so much with regard to the pains-the mean is effervescent, the excess self-indulgence."

Question 45

Explain in detail the two main kinds of virtues Aristotle is concerned with.

Question 46

Explain in detail what Aristotle means by passions, faculties, and states of character. Do you agree with Aristotle's distinctions? Explain your answer.

Question 47

Explain what Aristotle means when he says, "Virtue, then, is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean, i.e., the mean relative to us, this being determined by a rational principle, and by that principle by which the man of practical wisdom would determine it."

Question 48

Aristotle says, "With regard to pleasures and pains-not all of them, and not so much with regard to the pains-the mean is temperance, the excess self-indulgence." Explain how the concept of "temperance" fits into Aristotle's ideas concerning virtues.

Question 49

Explain what Aristotle means when he says that most people "take refuge in theory and think they are being philosophers and will become good in this way, behaving somewhat like patients who listen attentively to their doctors, but do none of the things they are ordered to do. As the latter will not be made well in body by such a course of treatment, the former will not be made well in soul by such a course of philosophy."

Question 50

According to Hume, "Truth is disputable; not taste: what exists in the nature of things is the standard of our __________; what each man feels within himself is the standard of __________."

A) science; excellence
B) excellence; science
C) judgment; sentiment
D) sentiment; judgment

Question 51

Hume says, "we shall analyze that complication of mental qualities, which form what, in common life, we call _______________: we shall consider every attribute of the mind, which renders a man an object either of esteem and affection, or of hatred and contempt; every habit or sentiment or faculty, which, if ascribed to any person, implies either praise or blame."

A) Religious Belief
B) Personal Merit
C) Social Customs
D) Legal Issues

Question 52

According to Hume, "Reason judges either of _______________ or of relations."

A) moral values
B) intuitive ideas
C) spiritual signs
D) matters of fact

Question 53

According to Hume, "Twist and turn this matter as much as you will, you can never rest the morality on relation; but must have recourse to the decisions of ..."

A) sentiment.
B) rationality.
C) finite beings.
D) religious leaders.

Question 54

Hume says, "Euclid has fully explained all the qualities of the circle; but has not in any proposition said a word of its beauty. The reason is evident. The beauty is not a ________ of the circle."

A) function
B) quality
C) fraction
D) quantity

Question 55

According to Hume, "No satisfactory answer can be given to any of these questions, upon the abstract hypothesis of _________; and we must at last acknowledge, that the crime or immorality is no particular fact or relation, which can be the object of the understanding, but arises entirely from the sentiment of disapprobation."

A) science
B) geometry
C) morals
D) humanity

Question 56

Hume says, "It appears evident that the ultimate ends of human actions can never, in any case, be accounted for by ________, but recommend themselves entirely to the sentiments and affections of mankind, without any dependence on the intellectual faculties."

A) reason
B) religion
C) ideology
D) history

Question 57

Hume says, "It is impossible there can be a progress _____________; and that one thing can always be a reason why another is desired. Something must be desirable on its own account, and because of its immediate accord or agreement with human sentiment and affection."

A) for mankind
B) ad hominem
C) in infinitum
D) in religion

Question 58

Hume says, "Reason being cool and disengaged, is no _________________, and directs only the impulse received from appetite or inclination, by showing us the means of attaining happiness or avoiding misery."

A) relative ambiguity
B) measure of ideas
C) spiritual toolkit
D) motive to action

Question 59

According to Hume, "Truth is disputable; not taste: what exists in the nature of things is the standard of our judgment; what each man feels within himself is the standard of sentiment."

Question 60

Hume says, "we shall analyze that complication of mental qualities, which form what, in common life, we call Religious Belief: we shall consider every attribute of the mind, which renders a man an object either of esteem and affection, or of hatred and contempt; every habit or sentiment or faculty, which, if ascribed to any person, implies either praise or blame."

Question 61

According to Hume, "Reason judges either of intuitive ideas or of relations."

Question 62

Hume says, "Twist and turn this matter as much as you will, you can never rest the morality on relation; but must have recourse to the decisions of sentiment."

Question 63

Hume says, "Euclid has fully explained all the qualities of the circle; but has not in any proposition said a word of its beauty. The reason is evident. The beauty is not a quality of the circle."

Question 64

According to Hume, "No satisfactory answer can be given to any of these questions, upon the abstract hypothesis of morals; and we must at last acknowledge, that the crime or immorality is no particular fact or relation, which can be the object of the understanding, but arises entirely from the sentiment of disapprobation."

Question 65

Hume says, "It appears evident that the ultimate ends of human actions can never, in any case, be accounted for by ideology, but recommend themselves entirely to the sentiments and affections of mankind, without any dependence on the intellectual faculties."

Question 66

Hume says, "It is impossible there can be a progress ad hominem; and that one thing can always be a reason why another is desired. Something must be desirable on its own account, and because of its immediate accord or agreement with human sentiment and affection."

Question 67

Hume says, "Reason being cool and disengaged, is no motive to action, and directs only the impulse received from appetite or inclination, by showing us the means of attaining happiness or avoiding misery."

Question 68

Explain what Hume means when he says, "Truth is disputable; not taste: what exists in the nature of things is the standard of our judgment; what each man feels within himself is the standard of sentiment."

Question 69

Explain what Hume means when he says, "No satisfactory answer can be given to any of these questions, upon the abstract hypothesis of morals; and we must at last acknowledge, that the crime or immorality is no particular fact or relation, which can be the object of the understanding, but arises entirely from the sentiment of disapprobation."

Question 70

Hume says, "It appears evident that the ultimate ends of human actions can never, in any case, be accounted for by reason, but recommend themselves entirely to the sentiments and affections of mankind, without any dependence on the intellectual faculties." Do you agree with Hume?

Question 71

Explain what Hume means when he says, "It is impossible there can be a progress in infinitum; and that one thing can always be a reason why another is desired. Something must be desirable on its own account, and because of its immediate accord or agreement with human sentiment and affection."

Question 72

Explain what Hume means when he says, "Reason being cool and disengaged, is no motive to action, and directs only the impulse received from appetite or inclination, by showing us the means of attaining happiness or avoiding misery." Do you agree with Hume?

Question 73

According to Kant, "The notion of ______ is in itself already the notion of a constraint of the free elective will by the law; whether this constraint be an external one or be self-constraint."

A) mind
B) duty
C) will
D) body

Question 74

According to Kant, "as man is a free (moral) being, the notion of duty can contain only self-constraint (by the idea of the law itself), when we look to the internal determination of the will (the spring), for thus only is it possible to combine that constraint (even if it were external) with the freedom of the elective will. The notion of duty then must be an ..."

A) abstract one.
B) original one.
C) ethical one.
D) internal one.

Question 75

Kant says, "The impulses of nature, then, contain hindrances to the fulfilment of duty in the mind of man, and resisting forces, some of them powerful; and he must judge himself able to combat these and to conquer them by means of ..."

A) religion.
B) intuition.
C) punishment.
D) reason.

Question 76

Kant says, "the power and resolved purpose to resist a strong but unjust opponent is called ..."

A) fortitude.
B) benevolence.
C) spirituality.
D) rationality.

Question 77

According to Kant, "ethics may also be defined as the system of the ends of the ..."

A) functions of the world.
B) pure practical reason.
C) theoretical abstractions.
D) spiritual aspect of mind.

Question 78

Kant says, "The two parts of moral philosophy are distinguished as treating respectively of ..."

A) religion and science.
B) belief and opinion.
C) ends and of duties of constraint.
D) determinism and freedom of will.

Question 79

According to Kant, "There is in fact no other determination of the ______________, except that to an end, which in the very notion of it implies that I cannot even physically be forced to it by the elective will of others."

A) elective will
B) necessary action
C) restrained thought
D) basic instinct

Question 80

According to Kant, "in ethics the notion of ______ must lead to ends, and must on moral principles give the foundation of maxims with respect to the ends which we ought to propose to ourselves."

A) duty
B) will
C) idea
D) mind