Chapter Chronology

Quiz for Listening to the Past: Aristotle on the Family and Slavery, from The Politics

Select the best answer. Click Submit for each question to turn in your work.

Question

1. According to Aristotle, what was the fundamental unit of the state?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct: The answer is a. In Aristotle’s view, the state was “made up of households,” and it was for that reason that he began his discussion of the state with a discussion of households.
Incorrect: The answer is a. In Aristotle’s view, the state was “made up of households,” and it was for that reason that he began his discussion of the state with a discussion of households.
1. According to Aristotle, what was the fundamental unit of the state?

Question

2. How did Aristotle define a slave?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct: The answer is b. Aristotle saw slaves as nothing more than tools that, like nonliving possessions, existed to provide their owners with the necessities of life.
Incorrect: The answer is b. Aristotle saw slaves as nothing more than tools that, like nonliving possessions, existed to provide their owners with the necessities of life.
2. How did Aristotle define a slave?

Question

3. Why did Aristotle believe that some men and women should be slaves?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct: The answer is a. As Aristotle put it, “the lower sort are by nature slaves, and it is better for them as for all inferiors that they should be under the rule of a master.”
Incorrect: The answer is a. As Aristotle put it, “the lower sort are by nature slaves, and it is better for them as for all inferiors that they should be under the rule of a master.”
3. Why did Aristotle believe that some men and women should be slaves?

Question

4. According to Aristotle, how is the courage of a woman best displayed?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct: The answer is c. Aristotle believed that both men and women could display courage, but that “the courage of a man is shown in commanding, of a woman in obeying.”
Incorrect: The answer is c. Aristotle believed that both men and women could display courage, but that “the courage of a man is shown in commanding, of a woman in obeying.”
4. According to Aristotle, how is the courage of a woman best displayed?

Question

5. According to Aristotle, what was a “woman’s glory”?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct: The answer is a. Aristotle’s fundamental view of women was shaped by his belief that they were naturally subservient to men. Therefore, in his view, the best women simply obeyed their husbands, fathers, and brothers in silence.
Incorrect: The answer is a. Aristotle’s fundamental view of women was shaped by his belief that they were naturally subservient to men. Therefore, in his view, the best women simply obeyed their husbands, fathers, and brothers in silence.
5. According to Aristotle, what was a “woman’s glory”?