Phil. 102: Introduction to Philosophical Inquiry
Quiz: Doctrine of the Mean
Licensed under the GFDL
Directions: Carefully study statements 1-10. Decide whether each statement
is true or false and write in the spaces provided the word “true” or the word
“false” in accordance with your decision.
1. Aristotle explains practical wisdom as an ability to
know the right action to take in a specific set of circumstances.
2. The Greek phrase aret´e, often translated as “virtue,”
means “excellence.”
3. Aristotle argues that actions productive of pleasure
are neither considered bad nor good actions.
4. For Aristotle, the good action is determined as a
mean between an action that is wholly good as excess and an action that
is wholly bad as defect.
5. Aristotle believes everyone should exhibit the amount
of courage which is the mathematical mean between cowardliness and rash-
ness.
6. Aristotle believes that the proper mean can only be
determined theoretically by the use of theoretical reason.
7. For Aristotle, `a priori reasoning is theoretical rea-
soning, and `a posteriori reasoning is practical.
8. According to Aristotle, the good or right action can-
not be known `a posteriori but must be learned from moral rules.
9. The proper mean of an action is always between the
two extremes of excess and defect of that action.
10. The proper virtue of a human being, according to
Aristotle, is the engagement in activity without hindrance.
name