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.
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
(a) Plato
(b) Socrates
(c) Aristotle
(d) Gadamer
Answer: (c)
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)
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)
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)