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PS120
Ball,pgs. 17-23,
Tannenbaum, pgs. 19-24, PT3-16
Part 1
The Democratic Ideal
True or False Questions
1. There are few people nowadays, whether major political leaders or ordinary citizens, who do not
praise democracy and claim to be democrats. True or False
2. There is a genuine and widespread agreement that democracy is the true end or goal of
ideological activity, with disagreement arising only over the proper means for achieving that end.
True or False
3. The aristocrats of Hellenic Athens generally believed that only the well-established citizens,
those with substantial property and ties to the noble families, were wise enough to govern. True or
False
4. To be a citizen in Hellenic Athens, one had to be an adult, whether male or female, resident
foreigner or slave, no one was excluded from the polis. True or False
5. One of the democratic principles practiced in Athenian democracy was the protections afforded
minorities and freedom of speech no matter how unpopular. True or False
6. Plato argued that the inevitable result of democracy is tyranny because of the conditions and
human characteristics generated by the former. True or False
7. Unlike Plato who argued against democracy, Aristotle supported it, believing that the common
good can only come from the majority of the people. True or False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Many ancient Greeks understood democracy to be a form of class rule—government by and for
the benefit of: a) everyone, b) the privileged class, c) the lower or working class, d) the governing
class.
2. Throughout most of the second half of the fifth century BC, the period renowned as the Golden
Age of Athens, its people called their polis a: a) autocracy, b) democracy, c) theocracy, d)
oligarchy.
3. How was it possible for Athenian democracy to enable its citizens, poor and rich alike, to
directly decide the governing policies? a) hand-picked officials would visit the homes of its
citizens, b) each week communities would select their leader to visit the city square to provide
input, c) citizens were paid a day’s wages to assemble and directly vote on policy, d) by the rich
visiting poorer households and buy the peoples’ allegiance.
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4. As further testimony to their faith in the demos, the Athenians filled a number of their political
offices not by election but by: a) nepotism with the eldest son assuming the office of his father, b)
randomly selecting citizens through a lottery, c) connection whereby government officials were
paid to allow others to receive a political office, d) selecting the spouse of a dead aristocrat to
assume his political office.
5. The public-spirited citizen of Athens; a) polites, b) idiotes, c) demos, d) kratein.
6. The practice of ostracism in ancient Athens meant: a) being told that a citizen’s behavior is
unacceptable, b) that one’s neighbors rejected a daughter for marriage, c) that an Athenian could
not hold public office, d) banishing a citizen temporarily from the city-state.
7. Who was the first martyr to the cause of free thought and free speech, accused of impiety and
corrupting the morals of the youth of Athens? a) Aristotle, b) Plato, c) Glaucon, d) Socrates.
8. An Aristotelian regime type that mixes elements of rule by the few with elements of rule by the
many: a) democracy, b) autocracy, c) polity, d) monarchy.
9. According to Aristotle, why would a society where most of the people are neither rich nor poor
but is comprised of a sizeable middle class rule in a prudent manner? a) because the many will
avoid the excesses of the envious poor and the arrogant rich, b) because the many would be too
preoccupied with their own personal livelihoods and ignore the regime in power, c) because if
given a choice, the many are by nature unselfish and unsusceptible to corruption, d) because the
many are unlike the privileged where the former are hardworking, the latter are lazy.
10. According to Aristotle, why is democracy better than tyranny and oligarchy? a) because a
democracy is more effective at stopping mob violence, b) because rulers cannot be corrupted in a
democracy, c) because many heads are better judges than one or a few, d) Aristotle despised
democracy and considered it the worst form of government.
Fill-in Questions
1. Why did Plato believe that democracy is dangerous?
a) because it puts __________ ______ into the hands of ignorant and envious people,
b) the ignorant people will not know how to use political power for the _______ _____,
c) the envious people will be concerned only with their own good, which they will seek to
advance by ___________ those who are _______ ____,
d) since they are both ignorant and envious they will be easily swayed by ___________.
2. In Book V of Aristotle’s Politics, how does the tyrant maintains and increases his power?
a) by ____________ anyone outside his inner circle;
b) he tells _____ that the people believe;
c) he plants ______ in their midst to ferret out critics and dissidents;
d) he withholds ____________ and practices censorship;
e) he divides the people among themselves by “sowing dissensions” and “ creating
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_________” over real or imaginary issues of little or no importance…
Plato: Advocating Justice
Tannenbaum, pgs. 19-24
True or False Questions
1. In the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians defeated the Spartans using more effective military
tactics. True or False
2. According to the relativists among the Greek philosophers, all truth is relative to the particular
situation and based on nothing more than local practice, whatever that might be. True or False
3. From the Sophist’s perspective, justice is a constant with its parameters easily defined and
operationalized. True or False
4. Thrasymachus and his fellow Sophists believe that the strong control society for their own
selfish purposes, reflecting a basic human urge that only a few can carry off. True or False
5. To Plato, it is the forms that are truly real and physical objects are merely the appearances the
forms emit. True or False
6. Plato rejected the idea of an immortal soul living forever, believing that such supernatural
notions are irrational. True or False
7. All forms at the highest stage are the essential nature of the good and the original cause in the
universe, argues Plato. True or False
8. Plato believes that only a few people can be rational since most people are led by their internal
appetites rather than reason. True or False
9. In a just or ideal state those with greater reason should rule over those with less, argues Plato.
True or False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. According to Tannenbaum, what are the ancient Greek philosophers attempting to do? a) They
see the need to hold on to traditional and mythical values, b) They are attempting to bring harmony
and peace to the world in which they reside, c) They believe in predestiny, arguing that events can
be explained based on faith, d) they seek answers based on natural causes which allows people to
better own their lives and futures.
2. The following group of classic Greek philosophers believes there is, and always has been, a real
truth that exists independently of our changing desires or customs or public opinion: a) absolutists,
b) relativists, c) contrarians, d) cosmologists.
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3. Seeking truth through reasoned debate whereby each side presses its side until an unvarnished
truth remains: a) dialectic method, b) coordinated discussion, c) critical analysis, d) scientific
reasoning.
4. According to Plato, that which is natural is the basis of reality, and it can be known by the
application of: a) common sense, b) perception, c) articulation, d) reason.
5. The highest goal of political life because it enables everyone to fully realize themselves, to fulfill
their true natures, according to Plato: a) fairness, b) freedom, c) justice, d) equality.
6. In Plato’s Republic, who should be elevated to political leadership in the ideal state? a) ancestral
kings, b) wise philosophers, c) common merchants, d) anyone supported by the people.
7. At the bottom stage of knowledge of the forms begins the senses where people see: a) the
shadows of things, b) the concrete logic of life, c) light and feel warmth, d) nothing because they
have nothing.
8. For the government to be judged as “good,” according to Plato, it must: a) serve the people’s true
natures, b) succumb to the wishes of the majority of the people, c) provide adequately for the
people’s desires, d) control and punish the rabble to protect the privileged.
Fill-in Questions
1. In the Platonic dialogues, Plato discusses:
a) the origins and meaning of the _________ and human life,
b) the method for acquiring genuine __________, and
c) the importance of __________, art, and _____.
2. To a Sophist in the Republic:
a) ________ is found in the doctrine of constant change.
b) political beliefs and practices are merely __________,
c) based on the continually changing history, traditions, and _________ of each ________.
3. For Plato eternal forms are:
a) __________,
b) independent of the material world of the senses, in _______,
c) with _______ value
d) known only to the ___________ (philosophers).
Answers
True or False Questions, Ball, pgs. 17-23
1. True
3. True
5. False
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7. False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. c
3. c
5. a
7. d
9. a
Fill-in Questions
1. A) political power, b) common good, c) plundering, better off, d) demagogues
True or False Questions, Tannenbaum, pgs. 19-24
1. False
3. False
5. True
7. True
9. True
Multiple Choice Questions
1. d
3. a
5. c
7. a
Fill-in Questions
1. a) universe, b) knowledge, c) education, love
3. a) invisible, b) heaven, c) divine, d) intellect
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