Diogenes Homework: The Philosopher in the Barrel
public class DiogenesHomework {
public static void main(String[] args) {
//=============================================================================
// Welcome, student of virtue (or whatever passes for it these days).
//
// Diogenes of Sinope was a Greek philosopher who lived in a barrel,
// carried a lantern in broad daylight searching for an honest man,
// plucked a chicken to refute Plato's definition of man, and told
// Alexander the Great — conqueror of the known world — to stop
// blocking his sunlight.
//
// The Diogenes class below has already been written for you.
// Your job is simple:
// 1. Create an instance of the Diogenes class.
// 2. Complete each task by calling the correct method.
// 3. Some tasks require you to print a return value.
// Others simply call a method that prints on its own.
// Read the method to know which is which.
//=============================================================================
//Task 1: Create a new Diogenes who lives in "Athens" and owns 2 possessions.
// (His barrel and his lantern — what else would a man need?)
//Task 2: Call the method that prints a random Diogenes quote.
//Task 3: Have Diogenes roll his barrel through the city 4 times.
//Task 4: Diogenes raises his lantern to someone named "Plato".
// Store the boolean result and print whether an honest man was found.
//Task 5: Have Diogenes pluck a chicken to refute Plato.
// Print the String that the method returns.
//Task 6: Alexander the Great approaches and requests "wisdom" from Diogenes.
// Print Diogenes' response.
//Task 7: Have Diogenes philosophize about the topic "wealth".
//Task 8: After the chicken incident, how many worldly possessions
// does Diogenes now have? Print the result.
//Task 9: Have Diogenes judge a citizen named "Aristocles" who is a "senator".
// Store the returned String in a variable, then print it.
}
//=============================================================================
// THE DIOGENES CLASS — DO NOT MODIFY (just read and use it)
//=============================================================================
public static class Diogenes
{
private String city;
private int possessions;
private boolean hasLantern;
private boolean livesInBarrel;
public Diogenes(String city, int possessions)
{
this.city = city;
this.possessions = possessions;
this.hasLantern = true;
this.livesInBarrel = true;
}
// Prints a random quote from the philosopher.
public void speakWisdom()
{
String[] quotes = {
"I am a citizen of the world.",
"It is the privilege of the gods to want nothing, and of godlike men to want little.",
"Dogs and philosophers do the greatest good and get the fewest rewards.",
"He who is most content with the least has the most.",
"The mob is the mother of tyrants.",
"I threw my cup away when I saw a child drinking from his hands at the trough."
};
int index = (int)(Math.random() * quotes.length);
System.out.println("Diogenes speaks: \"" + quotes[index] + "\"");
}
// Diogenes rolls his barrel through the city.
public void rollBarrel(int times)
{
for(int i = 1; i <= times; i++)
{
System.out.println("*THUD* Roll #" + i + " through the streets of " + city + "!");
}
System.out.println("The citizens stare. Diogenes does not care.");
}
// Diogenes raises his lantern to search for an honest man.
// Spoiler: he never finds one.
public boolean searchForHonestMan(String person)
{
System.out.println("*Diogenes raises his lantern to " + person + "'s face*");
System.out.println("*squints*");
System.out.println("\"Nope. Not this one either.\"");
return false;
}
// Plato defined man as "a featherless biped."
// Diogenes plucked a chicken, brought it to the Academy, and declared:
public String pluckChicken()
{
possessions++;
return "BEHOLD! I have brought you Plato's man — a featherless biped!";
}
// When Alexander the Great visited Diogenes and asked if there was
// anything he could do for him, Diogenes replied:
public String confrontAlexander(String request)
{
if(request.length() > 0)
{
return "You ask me of " + request + "? I have only one request: "
+ "stand out of my sunlight.";
}
return "You are blocking the sun. Move.";
}
// Diogenes sits in his barrel and ponders a topic.
public void philosophize(String topic)
{
System.out.println("*Diogenes retreats into his barrel to ponder: " + topic + "*");
if(topic.equals("wealth"))
{
System.out.println("\"He is richest who is content with the least, ");
System.out.println(" for contentment is the wealth of nature.\"");
}
else if(topic.equals("virtue"))
{
System.out.println("\"The art of being a slave is to rule one's master.\"");
}
else if(topic.equals("education"))
{
System.out.println("\"The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.\"");
}
else
{
System.out.println("\"I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.\"");
System.out.println("(Wait — that might be Socrates. Diogenes shrugs.)");
}
}
// Returns how many worldly possessions Diogenes currently has.
public int countWorldlyPossessions()
{
return possessions;
}
// Diogenes offers his unsolicited judgment of a citizen.
public String judgeCitizen(String name, String profession)
{
return name + " the " + profession
+ "? Yet another fool who mistakes busyness for purpose.";
}
}
}
