POLS Exam 1 Study Guide
In what year did the Peloponnesian War begin?
431 BCE
Approximately how many men could attend meetings of the Ecclesia?
6,000
At the time of his death, approximately how old was Socrates?
70
What is the Socratic Method?
A form of cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions.
What is aporia?
confusion, uncertainty, and / or embarrassment brought on by Socrates and his line of questioning.
What is Socrates' divine sign?
daimonion; It is a divine sign that Socrates had since childhood and which always turns him away from something, never directly towards anything
What does Meletus propose Socrates' punishment should be? What does Socrates counter with and why is it significant?
death penalty Socrates audaciously proposed to the jury that he be rewarded, not punished
Which of the following is the Greek word for justice?
dikaios
Athenian democracy allowed all adults over the age of 18 to participate
false
Glaucon and Adeimantus take up Thrasymachus's position after he leaves because they are swayed by his argument and think he has given up too soon.
false
In his Funeral Oration, Pericles offers a scathing rebuke of Athenian democracy and demands to be named emperor.
false
In wars between Greek City States, Plato suggests that the victor should utterly destroy the loser in order to prevent animosity and eventual retribution.
false
Aristotle believes that nature gives some the right to rule over others.
true
Aristotle is sometimes referred to as the "father of empiricism" because of the emphasis he placed on observational knowledge.
true
Aristotle was born in Stagira ca. 384 B.C.E.
true
At his trial, when the jury returns with their guilty verdict, Socrates suggests his punishment should be free meals in the Prytaneum
true
Following the Peloponnesian War, Athens was ruled briefly by an oligarchy known as the Thirty Tyrants, which Plato initially supported.
true
In The Melian Dialogue, the Athenians reject the idea that there is some true, absolute form of justice and proclaim that justice is nothing more than the will of the strong.
true
Plato advocates that for the guardian class the traditional Greek family structure be replaced with a system of selective breeding & eugenics where wives are shared and children raised in common.
true
Plato believes the Forms to be the basis of all reality.
true
Socrates argues that the virtues possessed by the just city are the same as those possessed by the just soul.
true
Socrates argues that there is no pursuit that women should be prevented from embarking on and that they should receive the same education as men, even taking up leadership roles alongside men.
true
Socrates suggests that children be taken into battle in order to see the heroism of the Guardian class and to develop courage.
true
Why is Socrates on trial? Who has accused him and what are the crimes he is being charged with?
two charges: asebeia (impiety) against the pantheon of Athens, and corruption of the youth of the city-state Lycon, Anytus, and Meletus
Like Socrates before him, Aristotle was wrongly accused of committing crimes against the city of Athens. He, too, was then put to death for his impiety.
false
Plato was born to extreme poverty and raised on the streets of Athens where he would eventually come to befriend Socrates.
false
Slavery was outlawed in democratic Athens.
false
Socrates believes that the traditional Greek stories about the gods are the best and most perfect source for teaching youth to be moral and that they do not need to be amended in any way.
false
What does Socrates suggest is the real reason for his trial?
for suggesting that he would try to lead them astray by the force of his eloquence.
When Socrates encounters Euthyphro at the court, who has Euthyphro come to accuse:
His father
What was the name of the school founded by Plato c. 385 B.C.E. outside of Athens?
the academy
To what god does Socrates ask Crito to make a sacrifice?
Asclepius
Briefly recount the interaction between Socrates and Euthyphro.
Both Socrates and Euthyphro are involved in matters of a legal nature. Socrates asks who it is who is being charged with this crime. Socrates asks Euthyphro to answer the question "What is piety?" He has a real purpose in doing this, for Euthyphro, a Sophist, professes to be wise concerning such matters, while Socrates, making no such claim for himself, professes only to be ignorant.
What charges have been brought against Socrates (select all that apply):
Corrupting the youth of the city of Athens & Not believing in the gods of the city
Why has Euthyphro come to the court?
Euthyphro has come to prosecute his own father for having unintentionally killed a murderous hired hand.
political structure of Ancient Athens
Greek democracy created at Athens was direct, rather than representative: any adult male citizen over the age of 20 could take part, and it was a duty to do so. The officials of the democracy were in part elected by the Assembly and in large part chosen by lottery in a process called sortition
What makes Socrates the wisest of the Greeks?
He was the wisest man in Athens because he alone was prepared to admit his own ignorance rather than pretend to know something he did not.
What is the name of the person accusing Socrates:
Meletus
What charge(s) is Euthyphro leveling against the person he has come to accuse (select all that apply):
Murder
How is Socrates executed?
Poison
Which of Socrates's interlocutors asserts that justice is "that which benefits one's friends and harms one's enemies."
Polemarchus
Politics, according to Aristotle, is a __________________ science.
Practical Science
Describe Socrates' defense against the charges.
Socrates calls on Meletus, his principal accuser, and interrogates him in the familiar form of the elenchus, or cross-examination. Socrates then addresses the accusation that he does not believe in the gods sanctioned by the state, assuming that this is the negative influence Meletus refers to.
What does Socrates tell us about death? Is socrates afraid to die? Why or why not?
Socrates replied that it was because of the immortality of the soul that death was no evil. The purpose of philosophy was to free the soul by guiding it to the eternal truths, and so when death came, it was a liberation he is not afraid to die; death is, for him, inevitable. he is a condemned criminal
Which of the following terms best describes Thrasymachus?
Sophist
Describe life in ancient Sparta
Spartan men devoted their lives to military service, and lived communally well into adulthood. A Spartan was taught that loyalty to the state came before everything else, including one's family. ... Spartans, who were outnumbered by the Helots, often treated them brutally and oppressively in an effort to prevent uprisings relies entirely on helot slavery
political structure of ancient Sparta
Spartan political system was a combination of monarchy (kings), oligarchy (Gerousia) and democracy (ephoroi, ephors). Oligarchy- Sparta always had two kings, the state was ruled by two hereditary kings of the Agiad and Eurypontid families (probably the two gens had great merits in the conquest of Laconia)
Who won the Peloponnesian War?
Spartans
In what city was Plato arrested by the ruling tyrant, Dionysius I, and then sold into slavery before being rescued by a friend?
Syracuse
The alliance of Greek city-states led by Athens was known as:
The Delian League
What was the Delian League?
The Delian League, founded in 478 BC, was an association of Greek city-states The Delian League was founded in 478 BCE following the Persian War to be a military alliance against any enemies that might threaten Ionian Greeks
What was the name of the school founded by Aristotle?
The Lyceum
Allies of the Spartans belonged to which of the following?
The Peloponnesian League
What was the Peloponnesian League?
The Peloponnesian League was an alliance in the Peloponnesus from the 6th to the 4th centuries BC, dominated by Sparta. The League was founded so that Sparta might protect itself against both a possible uprising of Sparta's helots and regional rival Argos.
What becomes of the Melians following the Melian Dialogue?
The city is utterly conquered by the Athenians.
Describe life in ancient Athens
The majority of the Athenians made their living and put food on the table from farming. Citizens often owned land outside the city which provided their income. The Greek landscape and climate, however, made farming a difficult endeavor. Athenian economy depended on trade. Athens was nearby the sea and was therefore able to trade with other city-states and foreign lands. They traded: honey, olive oil, silver, and painted pottery. In return, they received items such as grain and wood.
Which of Socrates's interlocutors asserts that justice is nothing but the advantage of the stronger?
Thrasymachus
how is The Melian Dialogue an example of political realism
Thucydides indicates throughout the book that internationalism is the only form of political realism while identifying isolationism as idealism.
Why has Crito come to visit Socrates?
To implore Socrates to flee
What two virtues does Aristotle believe we learn from private ownership?
_Temperance______Generosity__
What are the three parts of the human soul, according to Plato?
_the rational______the spirited______the appetitive___
Why has socrates gained the reputation he has amongst the Athenians?
he had acquired a reputation among his fellow citizens because he spent his days attempting to fulfill his divine mission to cross-examine them and to puncture their confident belief that they possessed knowledge of the most important matters.
Why has Crito come to visit Socrates?
help him escape prison
Which of the following is not a metal the gods have mixed with the spirit of man in the Myth of Metals?
lead
How much time elapses between the jury's sentencing and Socrates' execution?
one month
What does Pericles claim are the benefits of Athenian democracy in his funeral oration?
our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people.
What is Socratic Irony
technique whereby Socrates pretends to be ignorant of something in order to trick another into revealing their own lack of knowledge or flawed reasoning.
What are the four virtues possessed by a city that has been "rightly founded."
wisdom______bravery______moderation______justice___
