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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How will an oppressor use history to justify his oppression, according to Beauvoir?
(a) He will point out only past actions of his benevolence.
(b) He will negative aspects of history that existed before his power was attained.
(c) He will subjectively use the past to justify his power.
(d) He will create new history to confuse his enemies.

2. What does Beauvoir mean when she refers to "The Antinomies of Action"?
(a) That often in the fight for or against oppression, the action contradicts the motivation.
(b) That improper actions against oppression will lead to more oppression.
(c) That the intentions of the those who act against oppression must be constantly in check.
(d) That actions, not words, are most effective against oppression.

3. How does the type of future facing individual humans affect civilizations such as Ancient Greece and Rome, according to Beauvoir?
(a) They all come to an end.
(b) Their future is secured by eradicating the future of their enemies.
(c) They all survive by effectively winning wars.
(d) They make their futures more secure by seeking to provide freedom to their citizens.

4. How do ethics of ambiguity avoid being solipsistic?
(a) Because goals often transcend the life of the individual who initiates them.
(b) By the fact that the individual is defined only by his relationship to the world and other individuals.
(c) Because it demands that individuals engage matter in the pursuit of projects.
(d) Because the means of an end often affect more individual than the achievement of the end itself.

5. What contradiction does Beauvoir suggest will come to those who fight for a cause due to the complexity of the world?
(a) In order to win an urgent victory, one may be brought to the point of fighting against valid causes.
(b) In order to win an urgent victory, one may be brought to leaving a valued friend.
(c) In order to win an urgent victory, one may be brought to face a humiliating defeat.
(d) In order to win an urgent victory, one may be brought to sacrifice his principles.

Short Answer Questions

1. Since human life is finite, with what does Beauvoir suggest the individual should concern himself?

2. How does Beauvoir explain that technics (technology) is not objectively justified?

3. What comes of the man of action who does not recognize the ambiguity that appears during the pursuit of his goal, according to Beauvoir?

4. What influence does Beauvoir claim revolt has on the world.

5. How does Beauvoir establish the relationship between things and man in human action?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the two meanings that Beauvoir gives for the future?

2. How does Beauvoir claim that science can find truth?

3. How does Beauvoir relate death to life?

4. How does Beauvoir characterize the world at the beginning of Section III?

5. How does Beauvoir dispute the idea that individual freedom does not lead to anarchy?

6. How does Beauvoir criticize the claim that life is absurdity?

7. What is an example that Beauvoir uses to illustrate the "Antinomies of Action"?

8. How does Beauvoir characterize freedom that is won through denying freedom to others?

9. What two views of how history affects the future does Beauvoir note?

10. What does Beauvoir claim becomes of those who adopt the Aesthetic Attitude?

(see the answer keys)

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