Phil 110 Exam 2 Questions with All
Correct Answers
What kinds of rules need enforcing in the luxurious city where the content of stories told
to children are concerned? As far as the style of story-telling is concerned, what does
Socrates recommend? Why? - Answer--One main rule Socrates talks about is that the
city should not allow lies from the citizens or stories. We should also not allow writers to
say anything about unjust people are happy and just ones are wretched. Socrates
decides that the style consisting of little or no variations is the best choice. This includes
an appropriate harmony and rhythm are provided for this style, and if someone speaks it
then it should be in a single harmony and a rhythm of the same sort.
Socrates proposes that music and song need to be purified in a healthy city in three
ways: with respect to their words, harmonic modes, and rhythm. How so? - Answer--
Socrates says that they three elements of song, which are speech, harmony, and
rhythm, need to imitate a courageous person engaged in battle or in other work that he
is forced to do. The harmony would include either Dorian or Phrygian, and the
instruments would include only the lyre or cithara. They would not allow any multi-
stringed or polyharmonic instruments to play the song.
What is the so-called myth of the metals? In class, we mentioned three reasons why
rulers will want the people to believe the myth of the metals. What are they? - Answer--
The myth of the metals is the idea that the gods mixed either gold, silver, iron, or bronze
into your body. The mixtures of gold would become the rulers, the silver mixtures would
become the auxiliaries, while the iron and bronze became farmers and other craftsmen.
You could not be a ruler if you had bronze in you, and if you had gold you couldn't be a
farmer. The rulers would encourage this to keep a fixed amount of people in each class,
so the city would run smoothly without conflict. This would help protect the city at any
time of war or peace.
At the beginning of book iv, Adeimantus raises the following objection: given the way
Socrates has described their life, the guardians will not be very happy. How does
Socrates respond to this objection? - Answer--Socrates answers by saying that he is not
trying to make one individual happy, but make the city as a whole happy.
Plato argues that the best kind of city has three classes. What are the names of these
three classes and what are their respective responsibilities? What is the absolute worst
thing that can happen to a city? What is true of a just city? - Answer--The three classes
, include craftsmen, soldier, and guardian class. The worst thing that can happen to the
city is if a person of a particular class tries to meddle between all three, which can
cause serious turmoil. The overall summary of the worst evil would be injustice. A just
city is a city that all the classes do their own work and nothing other then that.
What is wisdom in a political context? Which class possesses this particular virtue? -
Answer--Socrates describes that being wise is to be prudent. He then describes
prudence as being able to know about internal relations and its relations with other cities
will be the best possible; complete guardians
What is courage in a political context? Which class embodies this virtue in a just city? -
Answer-Socrates describes courage as the power to preserve through everything its
belief that the things, and the sorts of things, that the lawgiver declared to be such in the
course of educating it. The soldiers class is the one Socrates is talking about
What is moderation in a political context? How does moderation in the city differ from
wisdom and courage in the just city? - Answer-Socrates describes moderation as
temperance in the political context. Temperance is the mastery of certain sorts of
pleasures and appetites. Socrates explains that wisdom and courage only controls one
part, but temperance is part of the whole body.
Given that the city has three parts, how does Plato argue by analogy that the individual
soul has three parts? - Answer-Plato argues that the individual is a smaller version of
the city, so if the city is just then the individual will be just in the same way.
What are the three parts of the individual soul? - Answer-There is a rationally calculating
element, which calculates different ideas, the appetitive element that contains passion,
hungers, thirst, etc., and finally the spirited element, which feels anger
Be able to complete an unfinished presentation of Plato's main argument for the soul's
having three parts. - Answer-?????
How does Plato define justice, courage, wisdom, and moderation in the individual soul?
- Answer-Plato describes justice as being all the other three parts working in harmony
together. Courage he says is preserving through pains and pleasures, and should
inspire terror and what should not. Then wisdom is what is the knowledge of what is
advantageous and of what is not. Finally, temperance or moderation is when both the
ruler and its two subjects share the belief that the rationally calculating element should
rule.
How does Plato describe moral virtue at 444e? How does this description of moral
virtue go some distance towards making sense of the Socratic-Platonic thesis that
justice is a good for the soul in-and-of-itself, and not simply for its consequences? -
Answer-Plato describes virtue as a sort of health, a fine and good state of the soul;
whereas vice seems to be a shameful disease and weakness. It follows Socrates
description pretty well that virtue makes a person lead a happy life. Plato says that it is a
