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 (Political Science MCQs)

---

1) 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)

2) 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)

3) 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)

4) Plato was born in: (CSS-2007)
(a) 430 B.C
(b) 428 B.C
(c) 387 B.C
(d) None of these
Answer: (b)

5) Plato wrote: (CSS-2000)
(a) Politics
(b) The Laws
(c) Political Economy
(d) Polity
(e) None of these.
Answer: (b)

6) Plato was a: (CSS-2007)
(a) Realist
(b) Idealist
(c) Rationalist
(d) None of these
Answer: (b)

7) 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)

8) 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)

9) Aristotle was a(n) _____ while Plato was a(n) _____.
(a) Empiricist; Nativist
(b) Structuralist; Functionalist
(c) Functionalist; Structuralist
(d) Nativist; Empiricist
Answer: (a)

10) The author of the book ‘Statesman’ is: (CSS-2000)
(a) Aristotle
(b) Machiavelli
(c) Plato
(d) None of these
Answer: (c)

11) The author of the Book The Laws was: (CSS-2007)
(a) Homer
(b) Plato
(c) Solon
(d) None of these
Answer: (b)

12) Which of these books represents the scheme of Plato’s Philosophy? (CSS-2002)
(a) The Politics
(b) The Republic
(c) The Laws
(d) None of these
Answer: (b)

13) Plato wrote the famous book: (CSS-2008)
(a) Leviathan
(b) The Republic
(c) The clouds
(d) None of these
Answer: (b)

14) 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)

---

MCQs about Aristotle (Political Science MCQs)

---

15) According to Aristotle the end of state is: (CSS-2000/2009)
(a) Legal
(b) Social
(c) Ethical
(d) Economic
(e) None of these.
Answer: (c)

16) “Man by nature is a social and political animal” is the cornerstone of the philosophy of: (CSS-2007)
(a) Plato
(b) Socrates
(c) Aristotle
(d) None of these
Answer: (c)

17).The principle of distributive justice was first propounded by:
(a) Aristotle
(b) Godwin
(c) Herbert Spencer
(d) Rawls
Answer: (a)

18) Aristotle is the original name of: (CSS-2002)
(a) Plato
(b) Nicomachus
(c) Machiavelli
(d) None of these
Answer: (d)

19) Who among the following held the view that the “State comes into existence for the sake of life and it continues for the sake of good life”?
(a) J. Bentham
(b) T.H. Green
(c) Aristotle
(d) Plato
Answer: (c)

20) The ungrateful pupil of his master, born in 384 BC was: (CSS-2005)
(a) Aristotle
(b) Aristocles
(c) Socrates
(d) None of these
Answer: (a)

21) Strong emphasis on justice was laid by: (CSS-2000)
(a) Socrates
(b) Aristotle
(c) Herodotus
(d) Stoics
(e) None of these.
Answer: (b)

22) ” The cause of sedition is always to be found in inequality” is said by:
(CSS-2009)
(a) Plato
(b) Aristotle
(c) Machiavelli
(d) None of these
Answer: (b)

23) The Greek philosopher Aristotle died in: (CSS-2010)
(a) 322 B.C
(b) 332 B.C
(c) 384 B.C
(d) None of these
Answer: (a)

24) Alexander of Macedonia was student of: (CSS-2011)
(a) Socrates
(b) Plato
(c) Aristotle
(d) None of these
Answer: (c)

25) Famous treatise Peri Hermeneias is developed by …………?
(a) Plato
(b) Socrates
(c) Aristotle
(d) Gadamer
Answer: (c)

26) “Justice is giving everyone his due” is said by: (CSS-2001)
(a) Rousseau
(b) Hobbes
(c) Aristotle
(d) None of these
Answer: (c)

27) According to Aristotle the end of state is: (CSS-2009)
(a) Logical
(b) Legal
(c) Ethical
(d) None of these
Answer: (c)

28) The doctrine of proportionate equality was pronounced by: (CSS-2008)
(a) Aristotle
(b) Rousseau
(c) Marx
(d) None of these
Answer: (a)

29) “Man when separated from Law and Justice is the worst of all animals” is the saying of: (CSS-2009)
(a) Plato
(b) Aristotle
(c) Machiavelli
(d) None of these
Answer: (b)

30) The great but ungrateful pupil of his master who was born in 384 BC was: (CSS-2009)
(a) Plato
(b) Aristotle
(c) Socrates
(d) None of these
Answer: (b)

31) “Justice as treating equals equally and unequal’s unequally” who said this: (CSS-2008)
(a) Aristotle
(b) J.S. Mill
(c) T. H .Green
(d) None of these
Answer: (a)

32) Aristotle was famous student of: (CSS-2008)
(a) Anaxagoras
(b) Hermes
(c) Socrates
(d) None of these
Answer: (d)

33) “The end of Politics is not knowledge but action” who said it: (CSS-2008)
(a) Plato
(b) Aristotle
(c) Montesquieu
(d) None of these
Answer: (b)

34) According to Aristotle which is the best amongst the Perverted form of the ideal states: (CSS-2001/2002)
(a) Tyranny
(b) Oligarchy
(c) Democracy
(d) None of these
Answer: (d)

35) When Aristotle declared that ”man is by nature a political animal”, he did not imply that
(a) Only within a political community man can live ‘the good life’
(b) Politics is an ethical activity concerned with creating a just society
(c) There is a distinction between state and civil society
(d) Politics is a master science which is essentially an attempt to create a good society
Answer: (c)

36) Which one of the following is not correctly matched?
(a) Karl Marx: Grundrisse
(b) Harold Laski: Grammar of Politics
(c) Aristotle : The Statesman
(d) Karl Popper: Open Society and its Enemies.
Answer: (c)

37) Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched?
(a) Harmony between the parts of the society- Plato
(b) Greatest good of the greatest number- J. Bentham
(c) Greatest advantages of the least advantaged- John Rawls
(d) Interest of the strongest -Aristotle
Answer: (d)

38) Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched?
(a) Harmony between the parts of the society: Plato
(b) Greatest good of the greatest number: J. Bentham
(c) Greatest advantages of the least advantaged: John Rawls
(d) Interest of the strongest: Aristotle
Answer: (d)

39) With which one of the following can the organic conception of the State be associated?
(a) Machiavelli
(b) Aristotle
(c) Thomas Hobbes
(d) Karl Marx
Answer: (b)

40) Aristotle described the State as natural. By this he meant that:
(a) the state was not created by man but was product of natural forces and facts like air, water, the earth, the sky, climatic conditions, environment and the interaction among all these
(b) the state was created to satisfy man’s natural needs
(c) the state satisfies man’s natural needs are not a proof that it is natural, those needs are but the stirrings in him of that immanent end (telos) that is expressed in the state
(d) Man is by nature a social being and no social life is possible without law and order which can be maintained only by the state
Answer: (d)