Philosophy Worksheet
Kreeft, Philosophy 101 by Socrates

Directions:
1. Please type your answers to these questions. (Handwritten answers will be accepted, but at a 15-point penalty.)
2. Put your name on at the top of the page.
3. Number your answers. Each answer should be at least four sentences long.
4. Print out two copies of your answers -- one for you and one for me -- and bring them to class. Late papers (turned in after the class is over) will earn a zero for the assignment.

I. The Apology of Socrates: Philosophy Defended

28. Philosophy is apolitical

a. Socrates says that philosophy and politics should be kept separate. Do you agree? Is this a case of giving “to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what belongs to God” (Matthew 22:21)?

b. If philosophy and politics are to be kept separate, how can philosophers make a positive contribution to society? Highlight the distinction Socrates makes between “a private man” and a “a public man.”

c. Would Socrates also argue for a “wall of separation” between Church and State, as Thomas Jefferson did? In other words, if philosophers can’t be involved in politics, why should Christians (or Buddhists or Hindus or Muslims)?