Quiz 13: Aristotle

According to Aristotle, ethics is fundamentally about

A. treating others as you'd like to be treated.

B. avoiding excess and deficiency in everything.

C. bringing about as much pleasure as possible.

D. following rules that make social cooperation possible.

B. avoiding excess and deficiency in everything.

According to Aristotle, taking pleasure in virtuous actions

A. deprives an action of its moral worth.

B. is a sign that one is truly virtuous.

C. is a sign that one is not truly virtuous.

D. is unimportant; what matters is whether one does the right thing.

B. is a sign that one is truly virtuous.

According to Aristotle, virtue is a kind of

A. passion.

B. faculty.

C. state of character.

D. all of the above

C. state of character.

According to Aristotle, we grasp virtues via

A. careful philosophical reasoning.

B. perception.

C. experimentation.

D. all of the above

B. perception.

According to Aristotle, what is characteristic of vice?

A. excesses of passions and actions

B. defects of passions and actions

C. passions and actions which cause harm

D. both a and b

D. both a and b

Aristotle calls virtue a "mean" because

A. virtue is a matter of compromising one's self-interest with the interests of others.

B. being virtuous is in between being a horrible person and being perfect.

C. virtue sometimes involves treating people unkindly.

D. virtue is a matter of avoiding excess and deficiency.

D. virtue is a matter of avoiding excess and deficiency.

Aristotle claims that when writing on ethics, one should

A. speak only in general outline.

B. try to stir up as much emotion as possible to motivate people to be good.

C. give very specific rules of conduct.

D. give rigorous arguments for everything one says.

A. speak only in general outline.

Aristotle thinks that virtues and vices cannot be kinds of passions because

A. we are praised and blamed for virtues and vices, but not for passions.

B. passions are states of character, but virtues and vices are not.

C. virtues and vices are innate to our nature, but passions are not.

D. none of the above (Aristotle thinks that virtues and vices are kinds of passions.)

A. we are praised and blamed for virtues and vices, but not for passions.

To become virtuous, Aristotle recommends

A. avoiding whichever extreme (excess or deficiency) is more dangerous.

B. performing virtuous actions until it becomes habitual.

C. training from a very early age.

D. all of the above

D. all of the above

Which of the following describes Aristotle's view of human beings?

A. They are naturally virtuous; it is society that makes them wicked.

B. They are irreparably bad; they can never truly become virtuous.

C. They are naturally neither virtuous nor vicious; virtue must be learned.

D. They are naturally vicious; it is society that teaches them to be virtuous.

C. They are naturally neither virtuous nor vicious; virtue must be learned.