Essay Questions for Thinking through Sources 4

1. Placing sources in context: In what ways were these sources reacting against the conventional wisdom of their times? How was each shaped by the social and political circumstances in which it was composed?
2. Relating spirituality and behavior: What is the relationship between religion, which explores the transcendent realm of the gods or the divine, and moral behavior on earth in each of these sources? How does the “good life” relate to politics?
3. Defining the “good person”: How do each of these texts characterize the fulfilled person or the fully realized human being? How do they define personal virtue?