Most Important MCQs about “PLATO” | CSS Political Science MCQs

Political thought, or political philosophy, is the study of questions concerning power, justice,
rights, law, and other issues pertaining to governance. Whereas political science assumes
that these concepts are what they are, political thought asks how they have come about and
to what effect. Just as Socrates’ simple question “How should we be governed?” led to his
execution, the question “What makes a government legitimate?” leads to political turmoil
when posed at critical times. Political thought asks what form government should take and
why; what duties citizens owe to a legitimate government, if any; and when it may be
legitimately overthrown, if ever. Generally speaking, political thought, political philosophy,
and political theory are terms often used interchangeably to mean the study of philosophical
texts related to politics.

MCQs about Plato

Plato was born 427-8 BC and died at the age of: (CSS-2005)
(a) 80 (b) 76
(c) 74 (d) None of these
Answer: (a)
Explanation: It is widely accepted that Plato, the Athenian philosopher, was died at the age
of eighty or eighty-one at 348-7 B.C.E. just after the birth of Alexander the Great.

Downloaded from www.csstimes.pk | 1

 Most Important MCQs about “PLATO” | CSS Political Science MCQs

According to Plato the population of an ideal state should be: (CSS-2010)

(a) 5040
(b) 50400
(c) 50040
(d) None of these
Answer: (a)
Explanation: In The Laws Plato recommended that to attain the ‘highest good’ an ideal and
direct democracy, in a city-state, should possess nearly 5040 citizens.

The turning point in the life of Plato came in the year 399 BC when he was of:
(CSS-2005/2009)
(a) 24 years
(b) 26 years
(c) 28 years
(d) None of these
Answer: (c)
Explanation: Plato was twenty-eight years old when Socrates was put to death. Plato fell in
with a wandering philosopher by the name of Socrates, of whom you may have heard, who
encouraged his students to challenge conventional wisdom to the point that he was finally
executed in 399 BC for corrupting the youth. This, Plato would say, was a major turning
point in his life, and he fled Athens to avoid a similar fate by association. He wound up in
Sicily, where he joined an order of Pythagoreans (something along the line of celibate math
mystics), whose fixation with numbers would inspire the cosmology Plato would become
famous for.

Plato was born in: (CSS-2007)

Downloaded from www.csstimes.pk | 2

 Most Important MCQs about “PLATO” | CSS Political Science MCQs

(a) 430 B.C

(b) 428 B.C
(c) 387 B.C
(d) None of these
Answer: (b)
Explanation: Based on ancient sources, most modern scholars believe that he was born in
Athens or Aegina between 428 and 423 BCE.

Plato wrote: (CSS-2000)

(a) Politics
(b) The Laws
(c) Political Economy
(d) Polity
(e) None of these.
Answer: (b)
Explanation: Plato wrote Laws during a peaceful period of full dedication to the Academy.
The Laws were thought to have been in the process of publication at the time of his death.

Plato was a: (CSS-2007)

(a) Realist (b) Idealist
(c) Rationalist (d) None of these
Answer: (b)
Explanation: Platonism is the oldest form of idealism and Plato himself the progenitor of
idealists.

The Fascism of Plato got birth in 4th century BC, whereas the modern Fascism is
the product of: (CSS-2009)
(a) 18th Century
(b) 19th Century
(c) 20th Century
(d) None of these
Answer: (c)
Explanation: Fascism was a product of the 20th century in which conservative adoration

Downloaded from www.csstimes.pk | 3

 Most Important MCQs about “PLATO” | CSS Political Science MCQs

for aristocratic hierarchy seemed anachronistic and pragmatically useless as a political

stratagem.

In Plato’s Ideal State, one reaches at the pinnacle of the State order at the age of:
(a) 35 (b) 40
(c) 50 (d) None of these
Answer: (c)
Explanation: In Plato’s Ideal State at the age of 50, those with real ability reach the
pinnacle of state order. They join the group of guardian class. They rule according to their
own intelligence and training and must not be compelled to conform to set of outdated and
inferior laws.

Aristotle was a(n) _____ while Plato was a(n) _____.

(a) Empiricist; Nativist
(b) Structuralist; Functionalist
(c) Functionalist; Structuralist
(d) Nativist; Empiricist
Answer: (a)
Explanation: Plato believed that we are born with all of our knowledge already inside us,
simply waiting to be rediscovered. This concept that knowledge is innate is known as
Nativism. Aristotle, a student of Plato, believed in Philosophical Empiricism, or the belief
that all knowledge is acquired through experience.

10) The author of the book ‘Statesman’ is: (CSS-2000)

(a) Aristotle (b) Machiavelli
(c) Plato (d) None of these
Answer: (c)
Explanation: The Statesman also known by its Latin title, Politicus, is a Socratic dialogue
written by Plato.

The author of the Book The Laws was: (CSS-2007)

(a) Homer
(b) Plato
(c) Solon
(d) None of these
Answer: (b)
Explanation: The Laws, Plato’s longest dialogue, has for centuries been recognized as the
most comprehensive exposition of the practical consequences of his philosophy, a necessary
corrective to the more visionary and utopian Republic.

Which of these books represents the scheme of Plato’s Philosophy? (CSS-2002)

Downloaded from www.csstimes.pk | 4

 Most Important MCQs about “PLATO” | CSS Political Science MCQs

(a) The Politics

(b) The Republic
(c) The Laws
(d) None of these
Answer: (b)
Explanation: “The Republic” is the most important and authentic work of Plato. It was
about political philosophy, ethics, education and metaphysics. Other works of Plato include:
“The Politicus”, “The Apology”, “The Meno”, “The Protagoras”, “The Gorgias”, and “The
Critias”.

Plato wrote the famous book: (CSS-2008)

(a) Leviathan
(b) The Republic
(c) The clouds
(d) None of these
Answer: (b)
Explanation: The most comprehensive statement of Plato’s mature philosophical views
appears in Πολιτεια (The Republic), an extended treatment of the most fundamental
principles for the conduct of human life. Using the character “Socrates” as a fictional
spokesman, Plato considers the nature and value of justice and the other virtues as they
appear both in the structure of society as a whole and in the personality of an individual
human being. This naturally leads to discussions of human nature, the achievement of
knowledge, the distinction between appearance and reality, the components of an effective
education, and the foundations of morality.

Pluto is called the father of the idealist theory of the state because:
(a) he prescribed the ideals of city-state
(b) his theory was based not on what human nature is but on what it ought to be
(c) he postulated a dualism between reality and value
(d) he based his theory on the idea of the Good
Answer: (b)

Please Share your comments using Facebook ID

Downloaded from www.csstimes.pk | 5