1. What is the purpose of Nicomachean Ethics, Book One?

2. What is Aristotle's understanding of human nature? That is, what is the human activity?

3. What is the standard for the good and the beautiful?

4. According to Aristotle, what are the scope and method of political science?

1. What is the purpose of Nicomachean Ethics, Book Two?

2. In Book One, Aristotle states in chapter 7 that the first principles of things come to our view by way of examples, or sense perception, or experience in certain habits or in other ways (1098b4-5). How do the first principles of the virtues of character or moral virtues come to view? That is, how should one go about investigating virtue of character or moral virtue?

3. In what way is politics concerned with virtue of character?

4. How does the comparison between the practice of the arts and the performance of virtues of character contribute to our understanding of these virtues of character?

1. What is the purpose of Nicomachean Ethics, Book Five?

2. In what way is justice similar to and different from other virtues of character?

3. What is the difference between reciprocity and "setting things straight"?

4. Why should politics be concerned with the justice and injustice that don't involve choice?

5. How should a decent person correct or assist the laws?

6. What is the difference between natural and conventional justice?

1. According to Alfarabi, there is a natural order between investigation and proving that affects how we learn and teach. What is this order?

2. What is the political significance of the way Alfarabi explains the relationship in time between the origin of philosophy and of religion?

3. Why does Alfarabi dwell so on the origin of a nation's letters and utterances, and the beginning and perfection of a nation's languages?

4. How does what Alfarabi say about the origin of language affect the temporal relationship between philosophy and religion? That is, how does Alfarabi use the meaning of words and language in order to shed light on the relationship between philosophy and religion, and the different arts and sciences?

1. What is Alfarabi talking about here? That is, what kind of history or sociology is he engaged in?

2. Why does he bring up the subject of sophistry and dialectic? What are they anyway?

3. What happened between the time of Plato and the days of Aristotle that Alfarabi deems of importance? Why does he think it is important? Is it?

1. How do the philosophy and religion of a nation become corrupted?

2. What are the reasons for a nation's elimination or prohibition of philosophy and the persecution of philosophers?

3. It could be said that with the lives of Lycurgus and Numa Plutarch presented the accounts of two truly virtuous regimes guided by the excellent philosophy of their two reformers. In what way are Lycurgus' Sparta and Numa's Rome similar to Alfarabi's nation that has excellent and demonstrative philosophy and religion? In what way are Plutarch's cities similar to the nations that have a corrupt religion and/or philosophy?

4. It could be said that Plutarch presents a classification of political regimes according to the complete virtue of the regimes' founders or reformers, and Aristotle presents a classification of political regimes according to an understanding of justice by the merits of the regime's citizens and according to the political justice aimed by the regime's laws (See Book V of the Nicomachean Ethics). What would a regime classification according to the principles set forth by Alfarabi's Book of Letters look like?